The U.S. is losing 6,000 acres of open space to development every day, according to the Trust for Public Land. The Vermont Land Trust (VLT) is working to protect open space, which is one of the best ways to stop climate change. A Valley Post special investigation reveals that, over the past decade, VLT -- which gets most of its funding from taxpayers all over Vermont -- has focused its efforts much more heavily in the northern part of the state, versus the four southern counties of Vermont.
VLT president Nick Richardson told the Valley Post that, in the past decade, the four counties of southern Vermont got 20 percent of the land protection. Those four counties make up 35 percent of the land area of the state. They are Bennington, Rutland, Windham, and Windsor. In the past ten years, VLT has permanently protected about 134,000 acres.
None of the 14 people on VLT's board live in the state's two southernmost counties, Windham and Bennington. Just three of the 14 board members live in southern Vermont.
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