Op-Ed: Speak up now to put the ‘public’ back in public lands

June 2, 2026 | By Zack Porter

Did you know that you are a co-owner of 360,000 acres of Vermont?

As the “people’s lands,” Vermont’s state forests, parks, and wildlife management areas, totaling 6% of the state, should be national examples of democracy in action. Sadly, in 2026, they aren’t living up to this ideal in the way that they should.

The Vermont Agency of Natural Resources is entrusted with caring for the special places that we own in common – treasured landscapes that make Vermont, Vermont. From Camel’s Hump to Lake Willoughby, Burton Island to Mt. Ascutney, and dozens of places in between, our state lands are compass points in our mental maps of Vermont; they’re where we live life to the fullest, no matter the season, forging memories with friends and family over s’mores, skis, and summer hikes.

For my family and me, public lands are personal. They’re where I return, again and again, for joy, peace, and inspiration; where I got my first job out of high school; where I was engaged to my wife; where my daughter first slept under the stars at age three weeks; and now where my daughter wants to spend her 10th birthday, climbing a favorite summit in the Worcester Range, surrounded by family and friends. 

Public lands should be one of our great equalizers, a symbol of freedom and democracy, a setting for the pursuit of the common good. In an era when the cost of everything is skyrocketing and technology bombards us with distractions, public lands should broadcast an open, affordable, and welcoming invitation to all: come as you are, breathe deeply, and be awed by the great outdoors.

But something is amiss at the Vermont Agency of Natural Resources. 

First, on April 8, with little public outreach, Vermont ANR announced its intention to charge the public the “market rate” – whatever it wants, with no upper limits – to enter a state park or reserve a campsite. Although Vermont State Parks offers free passes to certain income-eligible Vermonters, the state sidestepped the obligation imposed on it by the Vermont Legislature to conduct an economic impact analysis of its proposed fee changes. They didn’t ask, how many Vermonters will be priced out of visiting a state park or camping overnight? ANR’s answer is that they will decide the actual rates later, without any analysis or opportunity for public input through a rulemaking process.

Because of public pressure, ANR extended the comment period for its new proposed fee structure through June 11. Don’t miss your chance to weigh in.

Then, on April 23, after four years of campaigning by Standing Trees, the organization where I serve as executive director, ANR proposed its first-ever draft rules for state land management planning. 

For decades, ANR has been deciding behind closed doors where to cut timber and how much to protect streams, rivers, ponds, lakes, endangered species, and public recreation. While ANR plans to collect public input on the largest “management plans,” these plans lack important details about the agency’s proposed actions. Moreover, ANR claims these plans don’t make any decisions. Actual decisions, ANR claims, are left to state staff to make in private at a later date. 

Although we wish the draft rules released in April signaled a change from this anti-democratic status quo, ANR’s proposal continues these unfair practices. 

What does this mean for you? 

ANR doesn’t think you deserve to know or weigh in if your favorite fishing spot is threatened by a new logging road, before a timber sale is approved along your favorite trail, or before spraying herbicides near your favorite swimming hole. If you live in a community downstream from a state forest – and many of us do, since 90% of state lands are located in headwaters – good luck. ANR doesn’t plan to notify you or ask for your input about logging that could put your home or neighborhood at greater risk of flooding. 

I’m writing to encourage Vermonters to be sure to comment on ANR’s proposed rules for state land management by June 18, and sign up to attend one of the upcoming public hearings in Lyndonville, Waterbury, Burlington, Ludlow, or online.

As co-owners of state lands, we all deserve more respect from state land managers. We deserve state lands that aren’t run like a for-profit corporation. And we deserve to know about and give input on ANR’s decisions. 

Anything less isn’t democratic.

Before you take to the hills this summer for camping, fishing, boating, hiking, and swimming, make sure you comment on the future of your Vermont state lands.

Zack Porter has worked in public land management and advocacy for more than two decades, beginning at the U.S. Forest Service. In 2021, he co-founded the nonprofit organization Standing Trees, which works to protect and restore forests on New England’s public lands.