One of our native wildlife species historically played an important role on Thanksgiving Day. North America’s native wild turkeys were the ancestors of the Thanksgiving turkey on our dinner table.

Originally found only in the wild, turkeys now exist as meat-producing domesticated varieties — the broad breasted white, broad breasted bronze, white Holland, bourbon red, and a host of other breeds – all of them descended from our native wild turkey.

More than 140,000 servings of Vermont wild turkeys are harvested each year – that’s 140,000 servings of free-ranging, wild and sustainably harvested protein.

Wild turkeys exist throughout Vermont today, but that was not always the case. Wild turkeys disappeared from Vermont in the mid-to-late 1800s due to habitat destruction when land was cleared for farming and only 25 percent of the state was covered by forest.

The wild turkeys we see in Vermont today originated from just 31 wild turkeys stocked in Southwestern Vermont by the Vermont Fish and Wildlife Department in 1969 and 1970. Vermont’s forest habitat was once again capable of supporting turkeys. State wildlife biologists moved groups of these birds northward, and today Vermont’s population of turkeys is estimated at close to 50,000.

This is just one of many wildlife restoration success stories we can be thankful for in 2024. Funding for Vermont’s wild turkey restoration was derived from the sale of hunting licenses and a federal tax on hunting equipment.

We are proud to share our Annual Impact Report for 2024, which outlines some of the work our community made possible this year.

While it reflects on the past, this report is also a roadmap for our future. Rapid changes in how people get information bring challenges for media organizations like Vermont Public. But our unique funding model and the generosity of our audience are key to our success, now and in the years to come.

Together with you, we enter 2025 with excitement and curiosity, ready to serve our community with trusted journalism, educational programming, music and more.

This commentary is by Steven Berbeco of Winooski. He is editor of the 802 Ed, a biweekly newsletter about education policy and practice in Vermont.

A Latin teacher from junior high school once told me that the word trivia comes from roots meaning “three roads.” The idea was that people would come together where roads meet to  exchange small pieces of information — trivia. 

Here in Vermont we certainly swap news on street corners, and I’ve had my share of half-shouted updates between open car windows. The flow of information also happens in grocery stores, coffee shops and waiting for pickup at the end of the school day. 

Recently I found another spot for “hot tea,” as the kids like to call gossip these days. I was sitting  in my gym’s sauna and struck up a conversation with someone who is a school leader. 

I learned that the post-election anxiety many Vermonters are feeling is also showing up in  schools among students, many of whom are worried about being deported as part of what’s  been promised to be the “largest deportation program in American history.” 

And to clarify, these aren’t kids worrying about whether they will be able to go to Ikea in Montreal.  The federal government claims that it can stop and question people within 100 miles of a border.  For anyone doing the math, the distance from Highgate Springs to Middlebury clocks in at less  than 75 miles, for example. 

School leaders have so many responsibilities: to their students, the staff, the community. Now,  add to the list that schools have historically been swept up in immigration enforcement efforts. Despite this, Education Week recently pointed out that there hasn’t been much in the way of  public statements from school leaders. Or, ahem, state government.

There are levers that can be pulled within the state to help protect our vulnerable students. As the Legislature gets ready for session in January, elected representatives can prioritize this issue so schools can focus on teaching and learning. 

My gym’s motto is, “you belong here.” It’s time for Vermont’s education system to adopt a similar  mission statement.