Three things: Announcing the recipient of the 2023 Arthur Gibb Award, sharing our comments on harmful boating activity, and wishing farewell to two valued VNRC team members. 

Stay informed, connected, and engaged—three things.

Darby Bradley Recipient of 2023 Arthur Gibb Award for Individual Leadership

Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC) is delighted to present the 2023 Arthur Gibb Award for Individual Leadership to Darby Bradley, in recognition of his over three decades long career dedicated to Vermont’s land and people. Darby was formerly VNRC’s Assistant Director and Staff Attorney, President of the Vermont Land Trust and Chair of the Vermont Environmental Board under Governor Kunin. Darby’s vision, integrity, humility, and courage helped position Vermont as a national role model in progressive, innovative approaches to integrating conservation and growth. His decades of work helped to create a legacy of natural resource protection that will serve as a foundational value in Vermont for generations to come. VNRC will present the award to Darby at VNRC’s Annual Meeting at Lareau Farm Inn in Waitsfield on September 21st. Read our full press release on Darby Bradley receiving the 2023 Arthur Gibb Award here.

VNRC Supports Petition to Regulate Harmful Boating Activity in Vermont Waters

Last week, VNRC submitted comments to the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources supporting the Responsible Wakes for Vermont Lakes petition to keep wake boating 1,000 feet or more from shores. Wake boating is a recreational boating sport where a specialized motor boat creates an artificially large wake, which is then used to wake-board – think the snowboarding of water skiing. Keeping wakes at least 1,000 feet away from shores helps to prevent shoreline erosion from the large waves and maintain the safety for swimmers and paddlers, while still allowing people to enjoy boating at a safe distance. Managing our lakes to reduce erosion and damage to shorelines can also increase resilience by protecting shoreland property owners from flooding and safeguarding the quality of the lake. We hope the Vermont Department of Environmental Conservation will adopt the 1,000 feet from shore prohibition for wake boat activity.

With Gratitude, Wishing Farewell to Mary Perchlik and Sai Swamy

This week, we’re seeing off two wonderful VNRC team members as they head on to their next opportunities. Mary Perchlik, VNRC’s ECO AmeriCorps Restoration Associate, has been an invaluable part of our team over the past year. She’s supported our dam removal and restoration work, supported our clean water priorities more broadly, represented VNRC at meetings and public events, supported our forest program and parcelization research, helped with GIS efforts, and much more. We are grateful for Mary’s service over the past year, and wish her all the best as she heads on to her next adventure! This summer, VNRC was also fortunate to work with Sai Swamy as our 2023 Mollie Beattie Intern. Sai is a student at the Vermont Law School, and has done incredible research and policy development work with our staff this summer. In her own words, “At VNRC, I contributed to actual real-world problems and applied my research, written communication, and analytical skills.” Sai has done so much great work in her brief time at VNRC, and we’re wishing her all the best in her next career steps!