The Local Path to Preserving 30% of the Land by 2030: The Case of Vermont

Ten US states and dozens of countries have adopted a goal to preserve 30 percent of their land and water resources by 2030. The US 30 × 30 effort seeks to protect wildlife habitats, provide recreation opportunities, mitigate climate change, and avoid the fragmentation of natural areas and working farms and forestlands. Yet, very little research exists on the practice of how to achieve 30x30. In 2023, the State of Vermont passed legislation setting 30x30 and 50x50 as goals. Because Vermont is heavily forested, the preservation of forestland is key to reaching its goals. Fragmentation and parcelization of forests both degrade the forest ecology and reduce the attractiveness for preservation. Land preservation and retention decisions about private property occur locally, but no studies have yet examined the locally available land use tools that influence achieving the 30% goal. This study fills that gap by analyzing the interaction among land preservation, local zoning, state sponsored pref-erential property taxation, and land parcelization activity in 13 forested Vermont towns. Findings show considerable benefit from preferential property taxation, limited benefit from natural resource zoning, and a wide variation in the amount of land preserved. We also found little change in the number of large parcels pre- and post-COVID but some continued land fragmentation among smaller parcels. Sustained funding for land preservation together with the management of forests will be essential steps toward effective preservation in any forested region over the long run.