Date of Completion

2017

Document Type

Honors College Thesis

Department

Environmental Studies

Thesis Type

Honors College

First Advisor

Allan Strong

Second Advisor

Brendan Fisher

Keywords

Land Conservation and Stewardship, Natural Areas, Wildlife, Policy, Bill H.570 (Act 145), Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife (VTFWD)

Abstract

Although the Endangered Species Act of 1973 is federal legislation, protection of threatened and endangered (T & E) species varies in stringency across states. H.570 (Act 145) is a Vermont law passed during the 2015-2016 legislative session that updated some of the legal protections for T & E species. Through this legislation, the State was given the authority to protect critical habitat for T & E species through the Secretary of the Agency of Natural Resources. However, the legislation did not provide an official way to designate areas as critical habitat. The purpose of this study was to design an application form for the designation of T & E critical habitat, as a supplementary document to this law. Throughout the course of this work, I collaborated with a variety of stakeholders to ensure the successful development of the form. This project ultimately informs and facilitates future actions regarding protection of habitat for endangered and threatened species in Vermont.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Download

Share

COinS