More than 100,000 income-eligible residents are going to have free access to Vermont’s state parks this year, thanks to a first-in-the-nation pilot program.

The Park Access Fund Pilot Program will give people who receive benefits through the state’s Economic Services Division or the Women, Infants and Children program free entrance to any of Vermont’s 55 state parks during the season, which runs from May through October. 

To participate in the program, residents can show their EBT or WIC cards at the park entrance. Those who are eligible but do not have an EBT card can visit their local Economic Services Division District Office to request a card that can be used for state park entrance in 2025, according to the Park Access Fund website.

Once inside, all guests have the option to participate in free park-led activities, such as bird walks, concerts and evening campfires. The state parks events and programs page contains information on upcoming programming. 

The initiative originated from an idea to bring park accessibility to Vermonters experiencing food insecurity, according to Sarah Alberghini Winters, the executive director of Vermont Parks Forever, which runs the program. 

This new program is an extension of the Parks Access Fund, which grants free park passes to 55 nonprofit community partners to help their clients get outside, according to Winters.

Winters said she hopes this year’s expansion of the program is well-utilized. Depending on its success and donors’ willingness to support future efforts, the pilot program could continue in 2026 and beyond, she said. 

“It really takes a village,” Winters said. “We’re so thankful to have support from local and national foundations.”

Vermonters not eligible for this pilot program can also receive assistance accessing state parks through library passes and the Green Mountain Passport.

Financial barriers are not the only thing preventing some Vermonters from getting outside, Winters said, but this program is a starting point. She said her hope is that Vermont will set an example for other states to consider expanding programs for outdoor accessibility. 

“We’ll continue to learn about how we can help with other barriers that exist,” she said.

MONTPELIER — Vermont Gov. Phil Scott signed lawmakers’ state budget proposal for the 2026 fiscal year into law Wednesday. The plan lays out $9.01 billion in state spending for the yearlong period starting July 1 — and includes a handful of new measures designed to limit the impacts of potential cuts to the state’s federal funding. 

Scott, a Republican, was notably complimentary of the House and Senate’s budget bill in a letter to legislators that accompanied his signature. Democratic leadership in both chambers, knowing they almost certainly could not override a budget veto this year, trimmed tens of millions of dollars in proposed “base” spending — money expected to be appropriated year-over-year — from the legislation after Scott insisted on cuts. 

The governor had proposed an $8.99 billion state budget in January.

“I appreciate that this budget makes important affordability investments,” Scott wrote, pointing to lawmakers’ use of about $75 million from the state’s general fund that’s expected to help reduce the property tax bills people pay to support education. 

Scott also complimented how lawmakers set aside about $13 million in the budget to offset a slate of proposed tax credits that would benefit low-income families, workers and veterans, as well as retirees and people receiving military pensions.

The credits are included in a separate bill, S.51, over which House and Senate leaders still need to work out their differences in a joint conference committee.

While the state budget is typically lawmakers’ last act before adjournment every year, this year, there are still several major bills working their way through the Statehouse that deal with some of the headline issues from last fall’s election. 

In his letter, the governor urged legislators to pass a version of this year’s landmark education reform bill, H.454. The bill is being debated on the Senate floor Thursday as school district leaders — and a number of senators themselves —  have panned the language that several of the chamber’s committees drafted in recent weeks.

Senators were weighing to what extent they should revise their version of the bill to be more in line with what passed out of the House last month. That version appeared to have more support among the members of the Senate’s Democratic majority. 

Scott has threatened to use his power to summon lawmakers back to the Statehouse if they adjourn for the year without reaching agreement on an education bill. 

“While not perfect, (the budget bill) makes critical investments in affordability, housing, education and public safety,” the governor wrote Wednesday. “But we must focus on the policy bills that fix what’s broken so the funding can have its intended impact.”

The Vermont Conversation with David Goodman is a VTDigger podcast that features in-depth interviews on local and national issues. Listen below and subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get podcasts.

Karen Kevra was passionate about playing the flute as a child. But in college, she became disillusioned and walked away from classical music. Her long and winding journey brought her back to music, and in the process, transformed the music scene in Vermont.

Karen Kevra is founder and artistic director of Capital City Concerts (CCC), which is celebrating its 25^th anniversary this year. It has become one of Vermont’s premier and most beloved chamber music series, holding concerts in Montpelier and Burlington. Kevra is a Grammy-nominated flutist who performs at each of the CCC concerts. She has shared the stage with members of the Emerson String Quartet, the Paris Piano Trio, the Borromeo String Quartet, the Boston Chamber Music Society and Trey Anastasio of Phish.

Kevra has performed throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe, including performances at Carnegie Hall and the French Embassy in Washington D.C. When the Covid pandemic closed down performance venues, Kevra turned to telling stories. She launched a podcast, Muse Mentors, a series of beautifully crafted interviews with artists, activists and thinkers in which she explores the transformative role that mentors have played in their lives. She is on the music faculty of Middlebury College.

Kevra credits her own mentor with changing the course of her life. As an adult, Kevra sought out a teacher, Louis Moyse, a renowned flutist, composer and co-founder of the Marlboro Music Festival. She was introduced to Moyse by Jim Lowe, the longtime arts editor of the Barre-Montpelier Times Argus, who has advised Kevra over the years. Lowe shared a recording of Moyse with the aspiring young flutist.

“I’d never heard flute playing like that before, and I’d never heard music making like that before, and so that was it,” says Kevra. “I finally decided to screw up my courage and pick up the phone and make a phone call to go and play for Louis Moyse, in hopes of being able to study with him.”

Moyse and Kevra instantly bonded. Louis and his wife moved to Montpelier and he encouraged Kevra to launch Capital City Concerts. “Invite your friends to come and play,” he counseled. Their musical relationship blossomed into a lifelong friendship that lasted until Moyse’s death at the age of 94 in 2007.

Kevra says of her 25-year long music series: “These concerts are kind of a respite from all of the difficult stuff that’s going on in the world and the news. We’re offering a kind of salve for the soul.”