Rural Vermont’s Legislative Director, Caroline Gordon, is a panelist for this PES discussion centered around the question: How does Vermont’s legislative scaffolding (the multiple institutions and individuals that are seen and heard throughout a legislation’s development and implementation) support inclusive and democratic practice in the development of climate resilient agriculture innovations such as PES?
Ecosystem services have been defined as the conditions and processes through which natural ecosystems, and the species that make them up, sustain and fulfill human life. There is a new paradigm harnessing the concept of ‘payments for ecosystem services (PES)’ in which agriculture is no longer presented as an environmental problem, but as an important solution to climate change. In 2019 farmers of the Champlain Valley Farmer Coalition, Franklin Grand Isle Farmer’s Watershed Alliance, and the Connecticut River Watershed Farmers Alliance called upon the Vermont General Assembly for support in launching a pilot project to “create a prototype ecosystem services funding model to pay farmers for the production of fairly valued ecosystem services,” which has since developed into the Payment for Ecosystem Services and Soil Health (PES) Working Group. Farmers who have been engaging with the working group have noted a need for financial incentives that are adequate to offset costs of compliance, are available for multiple services, and are provided for quantified outcomes based on field-specific data.
The aim of this panel is to better understand the challenges and possibilities in relation to the PES program. To do so, four panelists will outline the structural scaffolding that has supported the development of PES in Vermont. After panelists make their opening remarks, in-person and online attendees are invited to ask questions in a hybrid format. The panel is hosted by Dartmouth College's Environmental Studies Department and moderated by Dr. Sophia Kruszewski of Vermont Law School.
For context, review this report from the Food and Ag Clinic, in partnership with RV and WRNRCD:
A Report Addressing Key Tasks and Findings of the Vermont Payment for Ecosystem Services and Soil Health Working Group, Including Recommendations for the Working Group’s Actions in 2021 Prepared by the Food and Agriculture Clinic at Vermont Law School’s Center for Agriculture and Food Systems, in partnership with Rural Vermont and the White River Natural Resources Conservation District, February 2021
Speakers:
Sophia Kruszewski, Clinic Director Center for Agricultural and Food Systems VTLS
Ryan Patch, Director of Water Quality of VT Department of Agriculture, Food, & Markets
Caroline Gordon, Legislative Director, Rural Vermont
Jennifer Byrne, District Manager at White River Natural Resources Conservation District
John Roberts, Executive Director of Champlain Valley Farmer Coalition
Zoom Registration: https://dartmouth.zoom.us/meeting/register/tJIvduyorDgjGNAe0imBqE8_QJ8AJBVKsVNY
In Person Location: 109 State Street, Montpelier, RSVP to julie.l.snorek@dartmouth.edu.