Public support for the protection of wild forests has been consistently strong in Vermont—from the demonstration of support for roadless areas, the 9,000 signature petition in support of wilderness that VPIRG presented to the GMNF, the results of the 1995 US Forest Service survey, and strong pro-wilderness showings at Forest Service educational forums.

Many individuals and organizations have spoken in favor of the Vermont Wilderness Association's proposal. Some of these statements are listed below.

Click on a link below to read what people have to say about wilderness
(PDF files, require free Acrobat Reader)

What are Opinion Leaders Saying About Wilderness? A Sampling of 2006 Op-Eds and Editorials
Wilderness Act is in Vermont tradition (A letter from four former Vermont governors)
Bipartisan support for wilderness (A letter from former State Senator George E. Little)
Former Vermont Senator Robert Stafford’s October 2001 letter
Letter from the Right Reverend Thomas C. Ely, Bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Vermont (PDF)
Resolution of the Audubon Vermont Board of Directors, Fall 2001, calling on Vermont's Senators and Congressman to introduce a Vermont Wilderness Bill (PDF)
Letter by Julie Wormser of the The Wilderness Society to the Congressional Delegation calling for more wilderness (PDF)
Statement of Reverend Steve Young, Director of Project Noah (PDF)
Statement of the Reverend Canon Margaret Crane of the Immanuel Episcopal Church of Bellows Falls, VT (PDF)
Nick Boke’s commentary on Vermont Public Radio about the 11/14/01 Wilderness Forum held by the US Forest Service
Forest Watch’s letter to Senator Leahy calling for the introduction of a Vermont Wilderness Bill (PDF)

Public Support for Wilderness in Vermont

The US Forest Service held a three-month comment period in Spring 2005 in order to get feedback on their draft management plan for the Green Mountain National Forest.

According to the VWA analysis of the 10,003 public comments received by the US Forest Service:

• Over 9,000 supported adding more wilderness and banning ATV's from the GMNF
• Only 25 comments supported allowing ATV's on the GMNF.
• Only 12 comments opposed adding anymore wilderness on the GMNF.
• Only 94 comments both requested allowing ATV's on the GMNF and opposed any more wilderness on the GMNF.

Other Recent Measures of Public Support For Wilderness in Vermont

1. A 2002 survey done by the Center for Rural Studies at the University of Vermont found that 73% of Vermont voters supported more wilderness within the Green Mountain National Forest. Residents of towns located in or near the forest expressed essentially the same level of support for wilderness. The full survey may be found at http://crs.uvm.edu/wildpoll/.
2. During the summer of 2001, the Vermont Public Interest Research Group went door to door throughout Vermont and collected over 9,000 signatures from Vermonters who support more wilderness designation on the Green Mountain National Forest.
3. In 2000, the US Forest Service received a total of 1.1 million public comments on the draft Roadless Area Conservation Policy. Over 3,000 Vermonters commented on the draft Roadless Policy; 90.7% of Vermonters said they wanted to see even greater protection of roadless areas that what was proposed in the draft rule. Only 7% of Vermonters commenting on the draft policy opposed setting national forest roadless areas aside from logging and road building.