Easements and Conservation

The Center's 85 kilometer trail system crosses parcels of property belonging to 88 different landowners, who in the past have given permission for use and maintenance in a series of one-year terms. In order to ensure the future of the trail system that the Center provides for skiers, as well as public access to recreation in general, the Green Racing Project is assisting in an effort to gain longer-term access to the land on which the trail system is built.

With this goal in mind, we are making an effort to strengthen our relationships with trail landowners and address any concerns they may have had in the past. The working of any touring center or tourist destination leads to complex relationships with neighbors and abutters; now that the Center is a nonprofit, we hope to "turn a new leaf" and to incorporate landowners' perspectives into our strategy as we move forward, so that the community has a greater sense of ownership over the trail resources. Only then can we build upon this relationship and take steps, one landowner at a time, towards a permanent, sustainable trail system.

In addition, the Outdoor Center and the Green Racing Project are assisting with the local Hosmer Ponds Watershed Initiative, a group of landowners interested in preserving the ecology of Little and Great Hosmer Ponds, as well as with the Vermont Land Trust's efforts to gain conservation easements on land in the Black River Swamp. Our trail system crosses land that is central to both of these initiatives, and we share the goals of these two groups.