A group run entirely by volunteers has protected hundreds of acres of forest land near Brattleboro from being turned into roads, parking lots, houses, or other kinds of so-called “development.” Now the Putney Mountain Association is raising money to save a 144 acre forest in Putney, Vermont. The group recently got $195,000 from the state to help with the project. It must raise $212,000 more to buy the forest and protect it in perpetuity. “We're excited. The land has a wonderful, year-round stream on it,” Jacquie Walker told the Valley Post. She is a member of the Association's board.

The Association has already saved 394 acres for forest land in Putney. The land is open to the public for hiking and included a peak with a spectacular, 360 degree view.

More information is available at www.PutneyMountain.org or by calling Putney Mountain Association board member Emily McAdoo at (802) 387-4537.

Sprawl is a major problem in the Valley. A Trust for Public Land report, "The Connecticut River: Quintessential New England," tells a shocking story with numbers: the number of people living in the entire length of the Connecticut River valley grew just eight percent from 1980 to 2000. But the amount of developed land grew 33 percent from 1982 to 1997.

There is a map at www.ValleyPost.org/node/137 (scroll down to the bottom of that page). Made by the Trust for Public Land in 2006, the map shows the Pioneer Valley/ Brattleboro/ Keene section of the Connecticut River watershed. Land outside the watershed is light green, meaning streams in that area do not flow to the Connecticut River. Dark green land has been protected from development, in many cases by www.LandTrustAlliance.org. On the map, red land is vulnerable to being paved with McMansions, Wal-Marts, parking lots, roads, and ChemLawns. Click on the map to enlarge it.