Vermont S. 38: An act relating to the Government Accountability Committee and the State Outcomes Report

Bill Text

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S.38 1
Introduced by Senator White 2
Referred to Committee on 3
Date: 4
Subject: Conservation and development; wildlife conservation; habitat 5
corridors; wildlife crossings 6
Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to require the 7
Secretary of Natural Resources to establish a program to fund the creation and 8
maintenance of habitat corridors and wildlife crossings in the State. 9
An act relating to conserving habitat corridors and wildlife crossings 10
It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont: 11
Sec. 1. SHORT TITLE 12
This act may be cited as the “Habitat Corridor Conservation Stamp Act.” 13
Sec. 2. FINDINGS 14
The General Assembly finds that: 15
(1) Nature faces a catastrophic loss of biodiversity, both locally and 16
globally. 17
(2) In addition to the value it has for its own sake, biodiversity is 18
essential to human survival. 19

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(3) The 2017 Vermont Forest Action Plan found that fragmentation and 1
parcelization represent major threats to forest health and productivity and 2
exacerbate the impacts of climate change. 3
(4) The 2021 Vermont Climate Assessment highlights an increase in 4
extreme weather events such as droughts and floods as a significant impact of 5
climate change in Vermont and recommends nature-based solutions as a 6
proven, low-cost strategy for climate adaptation and resilience. 7
(5) The initial Vermont Climate Action Plan calls for investing in 8
strategic conservation to increase the pace of permanent conservation towards 9
30 by 30 targets, with Vermont Conservation Design guiding prioritization of 10
efforts. 11
(6) The Nature Conservancy has developed the Resilient and Connected 12
Landscapes project and found that Vermont plays a key role in the 13
conservation of biodiversity regionally. 14
(7) The Staying Connected Initiative is an international partnership of 15
public and private organizations. Its goal is to maintain, enhance, and restore 16
landscape connectivity for wide-ranging mammals across the Northern 17
Appalachians-Acadian region, from the Adirondack Mountains to the Maritime 18
Provinces. The Staying Connected Initiative has identified nine linkages 19
across this vast region that are extremely important to wildlife. Six of these 20
linkages lie within Vermont. 21

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(8) Vermont’s most effective and efficient contribution to conserving 1
biological diversity and maintaining a landscape resilient to climate change is, 2
first, to conserve an intact and connected landscape and, second, to create and 3
protect connections in the landscape. 4
(9) Given the threats of biodiversity loss, landscape fragmentation, and 5
climate change, the General Assembly should conserve lands in the State to 6
increase landscape connectivity. 7
Sec. 3. 10 V.S.A. chapter 104 is added to read: 8
CHAPTER 104. HABITAT CORRIDOR CONSERVATION 9
§ 4201. DEFINITIONS 10
As used in this chapter: 11
(1) “Amenable land” means an area of land that the State may acquire 12
and use for habitat corridors or wildlife crossings. 13
(2) “Habitat corridor” means an area of land, including wildlife 14
crossings, that connect at least two habitats, including land meant to facilitate 15
the movement of wildlife or designated to connect wildlife habitats. 16
(3) “Secretary” means the Secretary of Natural Resources. 17
(4) “Take” means: 18
(A) pursuing, shooting, hunting, killing, capturing, trapping, harming, 19
snaring, or netting wildlife; 20

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(B) an act intended to create a risk of injury to wildlife, whether or 1
not injury occurs, including harassing; wounding; or placing, setting, drawing, 2
or using any net or other device used to take wildlife; or 3
(C) attempting to engage in or assisting another to engage in an act 4
set forth under subdivision (A) or (B) of this subdivision (4). 5
(5) “Wildlife” means all living sentient creatures, including fishes, 6
amphibians, reptiles, and insects, that are not human beings and are not 7
domestic animals, domestic fowl, or domestic pets. 8
(6) “Wildlife crossing” means infrastructure that connects two or more 9
wildlife habitats, including infrastructure meant to: 10
(A) facilitate the safe movement of wildlife over or beneath roads, 11
waters, and other barriers to wildlife movement; 12
(B) connect wildlife habitats; 13
(C) reduce wildlife-vehicle collisions; 14
(D) reduce the likelihood of injuries and mortalities to humans and 15
wildlife from wildlife-vehicle collisions; or 16
(E) reduce the potential for damage to motor vehicles from wildlife-17
vehicle collisions. 18
§ 4202. CONSERVATION VISION AND GOAL 19
(a) The vision of the State of Vermont is to maintain an ecologically 20
functional landscape that sustains biodiversity, facilitates wildlife’s migratory