Agricultural & Natural Areas Committee (ANAC)

Mission

The Monkton Agricultural and Natural Areas Committee (ANAC) is dedicated to protecting the farmland, woodland, natural and recreational areas, and other open spaces that help give Monkton its distinctive rural character and quality of life.

To send an email to the entire committee use: ANAC@monktonvt.com

Committee Members

• Laura Farrell, Chair; lfarrell@monktonvt.com
• Susan Mahony, Vice Chair; smahony@monktonvt.com
• Jaime Schulte, Clerk; jschulte@monktonvt.com
• John Mejia
• Deborah Houghton
• Steve Parren (Alternate)
• Jessica Demeritt (Alternate)

In addition: Sam Burr, who was a founding member of ANAC and served for about 16 years from 2006 to 2022, now serves as an advisor and member emeritus.

Committee Business

ANAC meetings are scheduled monthly, but the date and time may vary somewhat by month. Please consult the calendar for information about upcoming meetings.

Minutes of ANAC meetings can be found here

The application for support for a conservation project from Monkton’s Agricultural and Natural Areas Fund can be found here

Planning and Zoning Recommendations

The Monkton Planning Commission requested ANAC’s input regarding planning and zoning and our recommendations were provided in September 2021. The summary of those recommendations can be found here. The long-form edition will be posted soon and contains specific examples and references to planning and zoning documents from Monkton and several other towns.

Directory of Farms

 *NEW* Sam Burr has compiled a Directory of Farms in Monkton! Please send along the name(s) of any additional farms (and size and type if possible) that we might have missed to ANAC@monktonvt.com.

Accomplishments and Financials

Overview infographic about ANAC accomplishments.

An on-going summary of ANA Fund expenditures and acres conserved can be found here

Presentations & Projects

• Natural Resource Inventory (NRI) Mapping Project
  • In 2022 the Conservation Commission, in collaboration with the Planning Commission and Selectboard, contracted with Arrowwood Environmental to do a natural resource inventory (NRI) mapping of Monkton. This comprehensive assessment identified areas that are described by Vermont’s Act 171 and much more, providing up-to-date fine scale mapping of the town. The assessment included all property within Monkton’s town limits and a surrounding additional one kilometer, to show forest and habitat blocks and wildlife corridors that connect to surrounding towns, and involved the use of remote mapping technology, on the ground mapping and in-person visits. The results have been presented in digital format in an online map. The project kicked off in December 2022 and is being wrapped up in fall 2023. On 28th September, 2023, Arrowwood gave a community presentation of their work at Town Hall and via Zoom (recording), which was attended by some 30 residents and nearby Vermonters.
  • Recording: Monkton NRI Community Presentation – 28th September 2023
  • Slides: Monkton NRI Community Presentation Slides
  • Online Map: Monkton NRI Map
  • Report: Monkton NRI Report
  • Questions? Email: conservationcommission@monktonvt.com

• Ecology of North & Western Monkton – Chris Ajello – May 4th, 2022
  • Recording of the Presentation (1 hour 6 minutes)
  • Final Report
  • Description: UVM Field Naturalist graduate student Chris Ajello tromped around large parts of northern and western Monkton last summer to inventory natural communities and their associations with the landscape. Chris’s work was supervised and co-sponsored by the Monkton Conservation Commission, Monkton’s Agricultural and Natural Areas Committee, the Town of Monkton, the University of Vermont, and Vermont Gas.

• Monkton’s Ecological Landscape – Presentation by Eric Sorensen – July 2021
  • Recording of the Presentation
  • Slides from the Presentation
  • About the presenter: Eric Sorenson is the Community Ecologist at the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department where he is responsible for describing and classifying Vermont’s natural communities. He is a co-author of Wetland, Woodland, Wildland – a richly illustrated book describing Vermont’s ecological settings including geology, soils, climate, plants, and animals. In recent years, with others, he has focused on how to conserve the incredible biological diversity of our state through the Vermont Conservation Design. Join us for a presentation about Monkton natural communities and find out why this community ecologist finds our town so unique and special.

Pond Brook Ecological Inventory

During the summer of 2016, UVM biology graduate student Lyra Brennan conducted a focused study of the Pond Brook Watershed.  An Ecological Inventory and Assessment of the Pond Brook Region in Monkton, Vermont is a rich source of information including detailed descriptions of plants, animals, geology, and hydrology of the watershed.

Pond Brook Key Species Guide

During the summer of 2016 UVM biology graduate student Lyra Brennan conducted a focused study of the natural history aspects of the Pond Brook Watershed. One result of her work was the production of a “Key Species Guide” complete with photographs and explanatory text that addresses key plant species that call the Pond Brook Watershed home. The Agricultural and Natural Areas Committee (ANAC) helped to sponsor Lyra’s work and the committee plans to make hard copies of the guide available in the Town Library

Sam Burr is compiling a Directory of farms in Monkton. Please send along the name(s) of any farms you know (and size and type if possible) to lfarrell@monkton.com.