Climate & The Environment

Grantmaking strategies incorporate the learnings and historical work of the High Meadows Fund and are grounded in an interconnected view of ecological systems and vibrant communities.

Land Use and the Forest Economy

78 percent of Vermont is forested, contributing to clean air and water, carbon storage, recreation, and the forest products industry.

• Connect forest landowners with resources to manage their land for wildlife and climate resilience and generate revenue from sustainably harvested forest products.
• Build markets and supply chains for sustainably harvested forest products and carbon storage credits that varying parcel sizes can access.
• Promote coordination and planning across towns within Vermont’s watersheds to serve and protect the most vulnerable communities.
• Ensure effective implementation of legislation that promotes clean water and healthy soil.

Farm Viability and Food Systems

It is increasingly challenging for farmers to make a living in Vermont. Exploring new markets and technologies that support the future of Vermont’s agricultural economy also promotes soil and water quality, climate mitigation, and our working landscape.

• Advance efforts to pay farmers for soil management promoting climate resilience and clean water, centering farmers’ perspectives in the design of those systems.
• Connect small and medium-scale producers to regional and institutional markets that pay farmers a fair amount through collective branding, coordinated distribution, and increased storage capacity.
• Enable farmers to adapt their business models, implement regenerative practices, and access capital through targeted technical assistance and planning
• Reduce the racial farmland ownership gap by connecting farmers of color with opportunities to purchase farmland and innovative financing tools.

Climate and Environmental Justice

Environmental burdens (pollution, decaying infrastructure) and benefits (clean water, access to land) have been unevenly spread across Vermont’s population.

• Build new methods for community engagement that center relationship and trust building, empowering marginalized and rural communities to develop and advocate for their own definition of environmental justice and improvements to their environment.
• Support Black and Indigenous leaders and other leaders of color in building land and food sovereignty for their communities.
• Connect mobile home park residents with resources to subsidize high heating costs, improve degrading infrastructure, and build civic capacity to organize for park-wide infrastructure upgrades and stronger tenant-owner relationships.

Clean and Efficient Energy Use

Focus on coordinating nonprofits, businesses, and public agencies in emission reduction strategies; technological innovation pilots; and engaging communities most impacted by the clean energy transition.

• Support convening and coordination of nonprofits, businesses, and public agencies to develop a common agenda, develop shared data benchmarks and indicators of progress, and track progress collectively.
• Enable engagement efforts gathering input on emissions reduction strategies.
• Pilot models for emissions reductions that have buy-in from and intend to benefit low-income households, especially ones that can attract public dollars to scale up if successful