About Us
Mission and Vision
The WNRCD focuses on projects within four core areas:
Agricultural Assistance: WNRCD is strongly committed to providing agriculture producers with the technical, financial, and educational resources they need to be exceptional stewards of a healthy, working landscape.
Forestland Enhancement: WNRCD is a strong advocate of sustainable forestry practices that protect watershed health and boost harvest productivity, and work to ensure that Vermont’s forested land resources retain their economic, social, and ecological benefits.
Urban Conservation: WNRCD works closely with municipalities, partner groups, and home/business owners to promote appropriate stormwater management practices, providing technical, financial and educational resources to anyone interested in implementing Green Stormwater Infrastructure.
Watershed Stewardship: WNRCD seeks to improve, protect, and restore Vermont’s network of rivers and streams so that everyone may enjoy the myriad of benefits that these water resources provide.
The Winooski NRCD serves all of Chittenden and Washington Counties and three Towns in Orange County (Orange, Washington, and Williamstown).
To date, WNRCD is responsible for restoring hundreds of acres of riparian buffer habitat, has replaced dozens of culverts and opened up several dozen more miles of habitat for trout passage; has protected several streams from sediment through our Skidder Bridge rental program, improved soil health and protected water quality through the aerator rental program, treated thousands of square feet of impervious surface through the installation of rain barrels, permeable pavement, and rain gardens, collected water quality data from several dozen stream sites, and engaged the public through outreach efforts, instilling a personal connection with the natural world.
With the ever changing landscape and discoveries of pressing natural resources concerns, the Districts programs are always growing and evolving. While programmatic focuses and mission remains the same, new initiatives are forming to address issues such as climate change, flood resilience, the impact of sodium chloride on streams, and the threat of new invasive species. Yesterday and today, the Winooski Natural Resources Conservation District provides access to conservation education, assistance, and technical expertise to the citizens who live within our district and beyond.
Strategic Plan 2026-2030 (Coming Soon!)
Strategic Plan 2021-2026Applicability
As a special unit of government in the State of Vermont, the Winooski NRCD is subject both to the procedures of Vermont's open meeting law and Federal information request statute (Freedom of Information Act). As a result, the Winooski NRCD will provide requested information to members of the public upon request, subject to the limitations of the legislation governing such requests.
Procedure
Public information requests should be directed to the District Manager and Chair of the Board of Supervisors and either emailed to info@winooskinrcd.org or mailed to: Winooski Natural Resources Conservation District, 617 Comstock Road, Suite 1, Berlin, VT 05602.
Requesters should expect an initial response no later than 5 business days after the Winooski NRCD has received the request. This initial contact will serve clarify the nature and extent of the request. At this point the Winooski NRCD may seek legal counsel to determine if and to what extent it must comply with the request.
The length of time required to comply with the request will vary based on the necessity to seek legal counsel, the nature of the requested information, and the extent of the information requested. The Winooski NRCD will make a good-faith attempt to complete information requests within six months of receiving the request.
Fees
The Winooski NRCD strives for transparency in its general operations, strives to make good use of the public resources that have been dedicated to it, and the satisfaction of information requests creates a burden for the District staff and Supervisors. As a result, the Winooski NRCD will charge a fee for information requests. The Winooski NRCD will change $60 for every hour of staff time dedicated to the information request and $0.25 for every printed page of materials provided to the requester, or the cost of the digital resource provided to the requester (e.g. flash drive). These fees will not be waived unless the Winooski NRCD is ordered to do so by a competent judicial authority.