Family Saves Blue Ledge Natural Area

Orwell, VT—The Lake Champlain Land Trust and the Vermont chapter of the Nature Conservancy announced today the conservation of the Blue Ledge Natural Area in Orwell, Vermont. With soaring cliffs and over 1,000 feet of undeveloped Lake Champlain shoreline, Blue Ledge might have been at risk from development or logging. The owners, Scott Greene and Suzanne Young, a young couple raising their family on the land, had other ideas.

"Blue Ledge is an amazing place that should be conserved forever", noted Scott and Suzanne. "We value wild places and wanted to save this bluff for others to enjoy. We love the idea that anyone on the water can enjoy the sight of this beautiful, undisturbed bluff. And we want our son Jonas to look back and see that his parents saved something special - an untouched area to explore."

Situated on Lake Champlain, Blue Ledge is home to a number of special natural communities including a magnificent forest of hemlock, ash, hickory, and maple. The limestone bluff cedar-pine forest is a natural community rare to Vermont, and found only on the shores of Lake Champlain and Lake Memphremagog. This ecologically diverse area provides habitat for many plants that are under threat including the Canadian Black Snakeroot, Yellow Oak, and the Fragrant Squaw-Bush. The bluish tones of the weathered shale cliffs give the area its name—the Blue Ledge. The bluff is also home to the Singing Cedars Farmstead, the family’s organic farm.

"What wonderful people," said Chris Boget, Director of Land Protection at the Lake Champlain Land Trust. "It’s heartening to see people take responsibility for the future of their land."

The Greenes produce organic vegetables, flowers, eggs and poultry and are well known for their amazing organic garlic. Their farming practices are guided by ecological values and a desire to do things frugally and conscientiously, a philosophy that made their decision to sell a conservation easement on their property an easy one. Greene and Young generously donated a large portion of the value of the conservation easement as part of the deal.

The Lake Champlain Land Trust and the Vermont chapter of The Nature Conservancy worked in partnership to complete the conservation easement on 18 acres of forested Lake Champlain bluff.

Conservation easements are voluntary agreements between a land owner who donates or sells certain rights to their property, such as the right to develop, and a private or public organization who agrees to hold the landowner’s promise not to exercise those rights. Conservation easements are one of the most powerful and effective tools available for the conservation of private lands. Their use has successfully protected over 368,000 acres of wildlife habitat, agricultural land and timberland in Vermont, and millions of acres across the country.

During the summer months Scott and Suzanne can be found selling their produce and turkeys from Singing Cedars Farmstead at the Middlebury and Orwell Farmer’s Markets.

The Vermont chapter of The Nature Conservancy works to protect the plants, animals and natural communities of Vermont by protecting the lands and waters they need to survive. The chapter has protected more than 167,000 acres, much of which has been transferred to public agencies, such as the VT Fish and Wildlife Department and the Green Mountain National Forest. In addition to owning and managing 43 nature preserves in Vermont the chapter has helped to protect some of the state’s most popular natural areas including the Green River Reservoir, Missisquoi National Wildlife Refuge and Camel’s Hump State Park.

The Lake Champlain Land Trust is a visionary movement that not only protects fragile nesting grounds but also has conserved more than 4,000 acres of land, 16 islands and 16 miles of Lake Champlain shoreline. Over the years, the Lake Champlain Land Trust has safe-guarded an impressive inventory of land for public parks, beaches, hiking trails and wildlife habitats.