College Lands Comprehensive Plan

Our plan will look at every parcel of “undeveloped” land the College holds in and around Middlebury and document current uses and values, including agricultural, recreational, scenic, wildlife connectivity, nature conservation, teaching, and research. We will look at biophysical characteristics such as soils, hydrology, and position in the landscape, along with town and county plans, Vermont regulations and policy directives, and New England regional initiatives. By the end of the process, we plan to have an information-rich database of our landholdings that will consider a variety of perspectives and societal values, and guide future decisions about the variety of alternatives and uses. We expect to share much of this information through a new, interactive website.

Middlebury landholdings in the state total approximately 6,000 acres. This project, however, will only include about 3,000 acres in the Champlain Valley, primarily in Middlebury, Cornwall, and Weybridge, with much smaller amounts in New Haven and Bristol. This planning will not include residential and commercial parcels that currently have buildings and development.

The lands of Bread Loaf campus and the Rikert Outdoor Center already have a plan in place. A conservation easement held by Vermont Land Trust (VLT) determines the uses allowable on 1,400 acres of those lands, and a land trade with the Forest Service is in process which will add acreage to the easement and result in permanent conservation of over 2,000 acres of college land in Ripton and East Middlebury. A management plan approved by VLT has been written for all of the lands governed by the easement and must be updated every 10 years.

The lands of the Snowbowl are not included, as we expect no changes in the land use of the College’s alpine ski area.

Development of this plan follows several years of work done in accordance with the College’s Land Stewardship Initiative, which directs us to examine the landholdings through multiple perspectives. The new comprehensive plan will present all the parcels through a public-facing website and it will help inform future decisions about College lands.

No. Although the College sells and acquires properties on a regular basis to help serve its educational mission, the goal of the plan is to gather, coalesce, and analyze a broad range of information and data about the landscape, societal visions and values, and potential land uses to help systematically inform future land management decisions. 

The College welcomes public use of most of the landholdings throughout Addison County. None of the land is posted. Many people enjoy the recreational uses, including hiking on the Middlebury Area Land Trust’s Trail Around Middlebury (TAM), snowmobiling on trails managed by the Vermont Association of Snow Travelers (VAST), and biking on trails maintained in partnership with Addison County Bike Club. Roughly 1,500 acres of field are leased to local farmers. Portions of the lands are utilized for renewable electricity generation, and other areas are permitted for commercial and industrial development in the industrial park area. Additionally, hunters and wildlife-watchers regularly use the lands and many acres contribute to cherished views.

Land use choices involve tradeoffs; some uses are complementary and some cannot be met on the same site. We know that land provides many community values and that governmental and private groups have developed visions, plans, and initiatives related to land use. These visions include housing, economic development, nature conservation, food and farming, protection from natural hazards, and justice. In order to map such ideas onto specific lands, we need thought partners—people who, like us, think and care deeply about land in our communities. We recognize that best outcomes are developed when there is an open flow of communication and discussion of multiple perspectives. It is not usual for private landowners to seek broad public input in land-use planning, but we know that these lands hold historical, current, and future importance to our communities. Therefore, we are reaching out broadly—to town bodies such as selectboards, planning and conservation commissions; recreational groups; agricultural and food systems communities; and BIPOC and social justice groups. We are also seeking input from individuals in our communities. 

While maps do capture some of the societal values of specific land areas, many ideas, visions, and opportunities are not mapped onto the land. For instance, we can consult maps with town zoning, river corridors, priority forest patches, prime agricultural soils, and recreational trails. We do not, however, have maps to help us understand specifics about applying, for example, the New England Food Vision or recommendations of the Land Access Opportunity Board. We do not know if organizations or individuals have envisioned and discussed ideas for the future of specific land parcels. We want input so we can document all the ideas offered and consider the possibilities of any of these lands to contribute to broader needs and visions, now and in the future.

All input will be discussed and evaluated by the planning team and will help inform the crafting of recommendations related to land parcels or areas. Blending the public input with the biophysical land data and currently available maps from the State of Vermont and various organizations, we will develop an interactive map that will be available as a web-based resource and will help guide future land-use discussions and decisions.

Check out our ACRPC page for more comprehensive information and/or contact Marc Lapin, College Lands Conservationist, if you have further questions. lapin@middlebury.edu