BRATTLEBORO — Each year, the Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center (BEEC) recognizes the efforts of individuals, organizations, or citizen groups to preserve and enhance the region's environment through the presentation of the Paul and Dorothea Stockwell Environmental Award.
The award is named in honor of the Stockwells, who sowed the essential seeds for BEEC's success by providing them with a place to call home on Bonnyvale Road in West Brattleboro. The forests, fields, and facilities - and their many environmental programs - are their legacy.
This year's Stockwell Award is given to Hogback Mountain Conservation Association (HMCA), for its initiative, effort, and collaboration in preserving the land on Hogback Mountain in Marlboro.
The land was formerly the site of the Hogback Mountain Ski Area, and today it has been preserved as a valuable wildlife corridor.
When the ski area was put up for sale in 2007, Bob and Nancy Anderson recognized that this was an opportunity to have a significant impact on the preservation of southern Vermont's lands, and so the Hogback Mountain Conservation Association was founded.
Community members came together to purchase this land, however, the deal required much financial strategizing to not only raise the funds for the initial sale, but to continue to preserve the land for generations to come. In the process of completing this deal, the HMCA has provided an example of how a community can pull off such a seemingly impossible task.
The Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center is southeastern Vermont's leading environmental education center, and provides environmental education initiatives, including science-based school programs and youth camps, environmental research, and conservation and recreation initiatives. To learn more, contact BEEC at 802-257-5785 or [email protected]. www.beec.org