Vermont conservation districts ask legislature for $3 million base appropriation to sustain staffing and programs

Hillary Solomon, district manager at the Poultney Mettowee (Poultney‑Mettowee) Natural Resources Conservation District, and other district leaders told a legislative committee Thursday that Vermont’s 14 conservation districts need a $3,000,000 annual base appropriation to cover core staffing and operational costs.

The request is intended to pay at least one full‑time employee for each district, support supervisors and basic administrative functions, and allow districts to leverage competitive project funding, presenters said. Lauren Weston, manager of the Franklin County Natural Resources Conservation District, said the governor has proposed cutting the existing legislative allocation from $612,000 to $500,000 for fiscal 2026 and the districts are asking the committee to restore and increase sustained base funding.

"We are here requesting a base appropriation of $3,000,000," Weston said, asking for stable funding to run district offices, hire staff and meet statutory obligations. She told the committee that the current patchwork of competitive grants constrains planning and forces staff to spend large amounts of time seeking and managing short‑term awards.

Why it matters: Conservation districts serve as locally rooted, non‑regulatory connectors between landowners, farmers and state and federal programs. They provide technical assistance, nutrient management planning, stream and shoreline restoration, native plant nurseries and equipment rental programs that district managers say are essential to meeting the state’s clean water goals.

Hillary Solomon described project work including a native plant nursery in Poultney that supplied more than 4,300 trees planted along farm stream buffers last year and roughly 600 plants placed along lake shorelines. She said district staff also run watershed education programs and seasonal nursery jobs, and operate equipment — such as no‑till seed drills and aerators — that farmers may borrow to reduce erosion and nutrient runoff.

District leaders emphasized that most project funding is competitive and reimbursement‑based. Jill Arace, outgoing executive director of the Vermont Association of Conservation Districts, said the association and the Natural Resource Conservation Council (NRCC) write and administer grants and pass federal and state funds through to districts, but the reporting and administrative load remains high for local staff. She told the committee the groups recently subgranted “millions” to districts and that grant reporting requirements “create work for everyone.”

Presenters also raised immediate financial risks. Weston said roughly $4,000,000 in federal funds that normally flow to the association and districts are currently frozen, and that some Inflation Reduction Act‑related reimbursements to farmers are also on hold. Because the grants are reimbursement‑based, districts and contractors may have completed work and incurred costs without having received federal payment yet.

Scope of district work: District managers described participation in tactical basin planning under the Clean Water Act, water quality sampling after floods (notably on Otter Creek), invasive species control such as water chestnut hand‑pulling on Lake Champlain, and administration or co‑administration of clean water service provider funds at the regional level. Lauren Weston said that in fiscal 2024 the 14 districts and the Vermont Association of Conservation Districts assisted more than 550 farms statewide and conducted more than 150 on‑site visits in Franklin and Grand Isle counties.

Committee response and context: Committee members expressed general support for the districts’ role as a non‑regulatory partner to farmers and landowners, noting the districts’ ability to convene partners and move projects forward even when other funders or agencies take the lead on financing. One committee member said the request for $3 million is a “big ask” in a year when the Legislature faces other large spending priorities but acknowledged the districts’ utility and the leverage small base increases can produce.

What the districts said they would use base funding for: ongoing administrative and human resources support, modest core grants to each district, maintaining district managers and field staff, supervisor stipends, technology and outreach that cannot be funded through competitive project grants. District leaders said even small increases to base support often unlock much larger project investments because districts use state base funds to qualify for or manage federal and private grants.

Ending: Presenters left the committee with written guides to available grants and programs, and asked legislators to consider stable operational support to ensure districts can both develop projects and meet statutory duties. The Vermont Association of Conservation Districts also said it will transition to a new executive director in March and will continue coordinating grant work for districts.