Vermont

Support for regrowing Haiti’s forests has roots in Vermont – VTDigger

Published

12 months ago

December 29, 2024

Support for regrowing Haiti’s forests has roots in Vermont – VTDigger

Julia Pupko and Jean-Fenel Dorvilier, founders of the Society for the Reforestation of Duchity, Haiti, plant a tree together. Photo courtesy of Julia Pupko

The Bicknell’s thrush, a small, brown songbird, faces dual environmental threats: In its summer home among New England’s tallest peaks, such as Vermont’s Mount Mansfield, climate change is altering the landscape, and could push out the scrubby vegetation it favors for nesting.

In the winter, the thrush takes flight, traveling more than 1,500 miles to Hispaniola, the Caribbean island home to Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Particularly in Haiti, a history of colonization has contributed to sprawling deforestation, leaving only a fraction of the country covered in forest.

Now, members of a group co-founded by Vermont biologist Julia Pupko and Haitian organizer Jean-Fenel Dorvilier are attempting to mend the wounds of deforestation, both for the sake of wildlife like the Bicknell’s thrush, and for Haitian residents who need forests to sustain their communities. The group is based in Duchity, a rural municipality in southwestern Haiti.

The organization, called Society for the Reforestation of Duchity, Haiti, was founded in 2020 and has filled a gap left by Vermont Haiti Project, a nonprofit organization that began providing humanitarian services in rural Haiti in 2007. The Vermont Haiti Project provided mentorship to the new organization before it disbanded in December 2023.

Before it was colonized by the Spanish in the late 1400s, the island of Hispaniola was largely covered in forest, Pupko said. France colonized the western part of the island in the 1600s, now known as Haiti. Enslaved people in Haiti rebelled against the French, winning independence in 1804 — but the United States, France and others stifled the country’s development, and France required Haiti to pay it reparations, they noted. All the while, forest cover decreased.

”A lot was accomplished by cutting down valuable timber trees such as mahogany species, and also exporting things like indigo and sugar and other cash crops, which you also typically will deforest to do,” Pupko said.

The United States later occupied Haiti from 1915 until 1934, and during that time, forest cover dropped from 60% to around 20% as the U.S. converted land for agricultural use, Pupko said. Political turmoil within the country more recently has contributed to change on the landscape, too, they said.

As a child, Dorvilier’s birthday fell on Haiti’s Arbor Day, so he’d spend the day planting trees, an act that fostered his appreciation for forests. He volunteered with the Vermont Haiti Project, bringing volunteers into the mountains to place seedlings into the earth.

That’s where he met Pupko, who got involved with the Vermont Haiti Project as a student at University of Vermont. Pupko currently works as a forestry specialist with the Vermont Department of Forest, Parks and Recreation, a post that is unrelated to their involvement with the organization.

Though Pupko and Dorvilier spoke different languages at the time, they came to know each other through their shared interest in forests.

“We kind of just spent a lot of time together, sharing words for trees, sharing words for different things, and really understood that both of us had a deep love for trees,” Pupko said. “We stayed in touch over the years and began developing a stronger friendship over that time, continuing to circle back to our shared love of forests and trees and reforestation, which culminated in 2020 in our decision to form a reforestation and agroforestry organization together.”

The Duchity reforestation project’s mission is distinct from that of the Vermont Haiti Project. The latter was primarily focused on public health, with projects that ranged from starting a medical clinic, improving access to clean water and providing disaster relief after the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti.

The new organization is focused on regrowing forest and improving the environment in Duchity. Its largest project takes place on Arbor Day, when members work with local schools and community members to plant trees. They host workshops on different topics, showing how to harvest large tree branches to use for construction, for example, without cutting the entire tree. Last May, 100 participants planted more than 1,000 trees during the event.

Its efforts could help wildlife like the Bicknell’s thrush. While the bird is not listed as federally threatened or endangered, Partners in Flight, a group that tracks bird populations, ranks the species on its Red Watch list, its highest level of concern.

Pupko pointed to literature showing evidence that the bird uses regenerating forests and agroforestry plots in the locations where it spends its winter.

But the reforestation group’s goals, Pupko said, are centered around the community as much as the environment. It manages 36 acres of forest in two locations, which serve as an educational space and a resource for community members who can harvest products from them. If someone needs lumber to build a home, the organization’s staff — most of whom are from the community or live in Haiti — will work with them to sustainably harvest trees, Pupko said. In exchange, those who take from the forest are asked to help maintain it.

“Our projects come from a number of agronomists and agroforesters that are from Duchity or surrounding (areas),” Pupko said. “When we’re working on projects, they talk to the elders in the community. They talk to the youth in the community. They have these big meetings that all different stakeholders are coming to and are bringing up different issues they want to address.”

Those, then, are incorporated into their plans, Pupko said.

The organization operates by “emphasizing meeting the needs of the community in the work that we do as our primary objective, so that’s ensuring people have the tools and materials to be implementing these projects,” they said. But that mission “cannot be separated from the importance of overall ecosystem health and conservation.”

The two issues are inseparable, Pupko said, for many reasons: Large tracts of forest prevent mudslides after severe rains and hurricanes; the immediate environment is healthier for people and wildlife; an improved ecosystem can help clean water and improve agriculture.

One of the organization’s projects involves eight farmers who work with the reforestation group to implement or support sustainable farming practices.

“A lot of times, that’s providing seedlings,” Pupko said. “It may also be providing tools. Some farmers, they may know exactly what agroforestry strategy they want to implement and exactly how to care for the trees. But for other people, they may not know. So then in that case, we would provide them with the educational resources that they would need in order to successfully do this.”

Farmers and other community members approve of the organization, Dorvilier said in an interview, which made him understand that “this is something we can continue doing.”

“Now, we have about 35 people working with us in the community,” he said.

Dorvilier’s concerns about forests run deep. Without them, animals disappear and agriculture becomes harder, he said.

“Without trees, I think there is no life,” he said.

That sentiment could apply to a bird Vermont conservationists have been concerned about for years. But efforts to protect the Bicknell’s thrush’s habitat in Vermont and New England only go so far, Pupko said.

“If you ignore where they spend half of their year, their overwintering habitat, there’s no way that the species can continue to thrive,” they said.

“There’s many different creatures that migrate as winter falls here,” Pupko said. “The deep connection that is formed through sharing these miraculous species is really special and something that I think is worth supporting.”

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Vermont

Visitors spent over $1B in Chittenden County in record VT tourism year

Published

7 hours ago

December 16, 2025

Press Room

Visitors spent over B in Chittenden County in record VT tourism year

Beth McDermott
| Reporter assisted by AI

Vermont’s tourism industry set new records in 2024, with 16 million visitors spending $4.2 billion, according to a community announcement.

The increase in both visitation and spending marks a modest rise from 2023, according to a study by Tourism Economics.

Visitor spending accounted for 9% of Vermont’s gross domestic product, significantly higher than the 2023 national state average of 3%. The tourism sector directly supports 31,780 jobs, or 10% of the state’s workforce, compared to the national average of 4.6%.

Direct spending by visitors in 2024 included $1.5 billion for lodging, $876 million for food and beverages, $680 million in retail, $678 million for transportation and $462 million for recreation and entertainment. The spending generated $293.5 million in state and local taxes, equivalent to $1,089 per Vermont household.

“As we think about economic impact, it is important to recognize that visitors to Vermont are essentially temporary taxpayers, bringing in outside money that helps to make Vermont more affordable for all of us,” said Department of Tourism and Marketing Commissioner Heather Pelham. “Every guest who buys a meal, stays the night, or heads to the mountain is supporting our businesses, sustaining jobs for Vermonters and funding the essential services that keep our communities strong.”

When considering the broader economic impact, including supply chain purchases and employee spending, the ripple effects of visitor spending amounted to $7 billion in economic activity in 2024.

The report also provided county-specific data, showing increased spending in every county. Chittenden County accounted for the highest share of visitor spending at 24.5%, at well over $1 billion. Lamoille, Rutland and Windsor counties each represented more than 10% of statewide visitor spending.

In Caledonia County, direct spending from visitors reached $109 million, a 7.7% increase from 2023.

“During the 2024 total solar eclipse, the positive impact of tourism on a rural community like St. Johnsbury was clear,” said Gillian Sewake, director of Discover St. Johnsbury. “An estimated 23,000 people came to our town alone. It was wonderful to feel that vibrancy in our downtown, with visitors filling sidewalks, enjoying the attractions that we know and love, and helping businesses break revenue records.”

In Bennington County, tourism generated almost $300 million in direct spending in 2024.

“Tourism is one of our region’s most powerful economic drivers, supporting nearly 13% of our workforce,” said John Burnham, executive director of the Manchester Business Association. “But its value reaches far beyond jobs. Visitor spending strengthens our economy, sustains small businesses, and helps fund the local services and amenities we all rely on, from restaurants and trails to cultural attractions and community events. Tourism also inspires us to preserve our historic character and adds a vibrancy that enriches everyday life. Simply put, the visitor economy helps keep our region the welcoming, thriving place we’re proud to call home.”

The 2024 economic impact report comes at a time when resident support of tourism is strong. In the University of Vermont Center for Rural Studies 2025 Vermonter Poll, 85% of residents agreed with the statement “Tourism is important to my local economy,” and 78% agreed with the statement “Increased tourism would have a beneficial impact on my local community.”

To read “Economic Impact of Visitors in Vermont 2024,” learn more about the report’s methodology, and the additional indirect and induced effects of visitor spending, visit the Vermont Department of Tourism and Marketing Tourism Research webpage, accd.vermont.gov/tourism/research.

This story was created by reporter Beth McDermott, bmcdermott1@usatodayco.com, with the assistance of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Journalists were involved in every step of the information gathering, review, editing and publishing process. Learn more at cm.usatoday.com/ethical-conduct.

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Vermont

Obstacles for Vermont refugees is focus at roundtable

Published

19 hours ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

Obstacles for Vermont refugees is focus at roundtable

BENNINGTON — Sitting in a circle at the Bennington County Multicultural Community Center, Jack Rossiter-Munley shared the story of two families with whom he had worked.

The families had immigrated from South Sudan to Bennington, which was designated as a refugee site in October 2022. Since then, about 205 refugees have immigrated to the town. But the lives that they had hoped for in the United States haven’t necessarily come to fruition.

“These are folks who needed more orientation to work in the United States, but also the line is moving, and so you’re no longer on the line,” said Rossiter-Munley, the director of the Bennington County Multicultural Community Center. “Because their actual work here was unstable, they decided, ‘we’re just going to try to find work somewhere else.’”

Some of the family members moved to the Midwest, where they hoped to find a larger South Sudanese community and more support from their relatives. Those still in Bennington are looking to follow, he said.

Rossiter-Munley and about a dozen other people were gathered on Dec. 5 at BCMCC for a roundtable on Employment Support for New Americans, part of Gov. Phil Scott’s “Capital for a Day” initiative. That day, Scott and several of his cabinet members stationed themselves around Bennington County, holding meetings and hosting conversations with local leaders as they heard how to better support Bennington County.

The roundtable came at an especially pressing time for local immigrants. On Dec. 2, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration services under President Trump announced that it would pause its review of applications for green cards, asylum and citizenship following the shooting of two National Guard officers deployed in Washington, D.C. The pause applies to 19 countries — including Afghanistan and the Republic of Congo — from where many new Americans in Bennington emigrate.

People also come to Bennington from Venezuela, South Sudan and Iraq as part of the resettlement programs, Rossiter-Munley said. At the following Monday’s Select Board meeting, he read a statement on behalf of Afghan women in Bennington, condemning the violence in Washington, D.C. and asking for the community’s understanding. And at the roundtable, he was clear about the legal implications for those already living in Bennington: “nothing has changed.”

Kendal Smith, commissioner of the Department of Labor, was in attendance at the Dec. 5 meeting and represented Vermont. She sought to understand how the state could better support immigrants and refugees in Bennington County.

The biggest challenges Smith identified were language access support, transportation and licensing attainment, she said.

Translation is an area that gets highlighted the most in Bennington because the town is “uniquely deficient” in providing such community support, Rossiter-Munley said. Bennington county was almost 95 percent white, according to the latest census data.

Smith said that the Department of Labor is exploring funding the purchase of more translation devices to help overcome language barriers at work. The state currently contracts with Propio, an AI-based interpretation service. BCMCC uses Boostlingo to translate their speech into languages like Swahili and Dinka.

Another difficulty in Bennington is access to transportation to work. Wendy Morris, the Department of Labor’s regional manager, said that even commutes between Bennington and Manchester can pose serious challenges for new Americans.

“We help them get a job — let’s say we could do that, and we get them to Manchester,” she said. “We do the interview with them. How do we get them there every single day?”

The Department of Labor will explore “creative ways” to fund and provide driver’s licenses to immigrants and refugees, said Rowan Hawthorne, the policy and legislative affairs director at the Commissioner’s office. The Department will also work with the Office of Professional Regulation to “overcome licensing transfer barriers.”

Nearly every member of the roundtable stressed that immigrants and refugees in Bennington faced difficulties finding jobs that suited their training — for example, as pharmacists or engineers — and often were met with employers who were skeptical about hiring them.

All of it means that volunteers and leaders working with refugees are stretched thin.

“I can’t say enough how everybody in this room is doing more than their job,” said Sean-Marie Oller, director of the Tutorial Center, a Bennington nonprofit that provides adult education and literacy classes.

Still, Rossiter-Munley tries to be optimistic. He cited a study that showed refugee resettlement provided a net benefit of $123.8 billion to local, state and federal economies. And he’s encouraged by the state Department of Labor’s openness to growth.

“When we are sitting down to meet with employers, or offering support or working alongside the Department of Labor, the more of that knowledge can become just part of the day-to-day work of a how a local department … functions,” he said.

“This is part of how we work, and it’s not a special one-time project.”

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Vermont

‘Wreaths Across America’ observed at Vermont Veterans’ Home

Published

1 day ago

December 15, 2025

Press Room

‘Wreaths Across America’ observed at Vermont Veterans’ Home

BENNINGTON — Holiday commemorations extended to the Vermont Veterans’ Home cemetery on Saturday, where community members gathered to honor the service men and women interred there through Wreaths Across America. Among those participating were members of Bennington’s own Civil Air Patrol.

The wreath-laying included an official ceremony, as well as laying wreaths at veteran graves and saying the veterans’ names out loud.

“So many Vermonters have sacrificed to serve in our Armed Forces. Sponsoring a wreath is a sign of gratitude to our veterans – both those who are living and to those who have departed,” said Susan Sweetser, the founder of the Vermont Veteran Moms group for Wreath Across America. “The first year after my daughter, Sgt. Virginia L. Sweetser, passed away and was buried at the Vermont Veterans Cemetery in Randolph, I participated in the Wreaths Across America event in Randolph. I was so discouraged to see that only 250 wreaths had been sponsored for the over 4,000 graves at VVMC. I vowed that I would work to change that. We have come a long way and I am praying that this will be the year that we see all the participating veteran graves covered.”

Wreaths Across America provides wreaths for Veteran graves all over the U.S., including the graves at Arlington National Cemetery.

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