The Association of VT Conservation Commissions 2019 Conservation Summit is this Saturday (9/28) from 8:30 am - 3:30 pm at the Middlebury College Breadloaf Campus in Ripton. The theme is Vermont Conservation Design (VCD). The keynote speaker is Liz Thompson, Director of Conservation Science at the Vermont Land Trust. She will provide a history of conservation planning in Vermont, and highlight how these concepts can be applied at the local level. Breakout sessions will focus on working with people in your community to protect natural resources; land conservation for community value and ecological function; using VCD maps of forest blocks and habitat connectors; using VCD as a model for guiding bird conservation efforts; and much more. This year's program also features an optional post-Summit field trip in which participants will walk to a grove of old growth forest and learn about Bread Loaf campus land conserved by Middlebury College in 2015.

The Conservation Summit is open to anyone interested in helping conserve VT's natural resources. To register for the Summit, and for a schedule of sessions, click here: http://vtconservation.com/conservation_summit/.