I recently read the commentary by Jock Gill in VTDigger in which he says that the state is at a fork in the road and that new roads for the future are opening up. In reading his commentary, I am reminded of a list of the top 20 Vermont stories of the 20th century by Chris Graff in his book “Dateline Vermont.” One in particular on that list relates to a plan for the future for the state in the Report from the Vermont Commission of Country Life, 1931. Graff says that he believes the recommendations in the report in many ways set the agenda for the following few decades in our state.
The commission was established in 1928 after the 1927 flood that destroyed a great deal of the state and its infrastructure. It was chaired by former Gov. John Weeks. It is said that “the flood and its impact awakened in Vermonters a fuller sense of their collective power and gave them a new impulse which will be felt through the years.”
The commission did a very comprehensive assessment of all aspects of the state: the people, the topography and climate; the soils; agriculture; forestry and the woodworking industries; summer residents and tourism; fish, game, and the preservation of wildlife; land utilization; rural home and community life; recreation; medical facilities for rural people; educational facilities for rural people; the care of the handicapped; the Vermont Foundation; rural government; citizenship; religious forces; and the conservation of Vermont traditions and ideals.
There is a need for a similar approach today. As Gill’s commentary states: “new roads are opening up for the future of the state.” Administrations and legislatures often go from one crisis issue to another without clear longer-term strategies that deal collectively or comprehensively with all interrelated issues, as was done in the 1931 report.
When I was secretary of the Agency of Agriculture, Food and Markets for the state, National Geographic stated that Vermont was the number five place in the world to visit, and number one in the U.S., due to our landscape and quaint villages, and that we had a plan for the future. I often said publicly that I liked the first two but that I was not aware of the last.
Certainly Covid-19 has changed the landscape and has brought to the surface the many issues that confront the state, our local communities, health care, education, agriculture, land use, food security, tourism, jobs, and more. Perhaps Covid-19 too has awakened in Vermonters a fuller sense of their power and has given them a new impluse that will be felt through the years.
As Gill states so well in his commentary: “Vermont will be more resilient if we can find ways to create opportunities to energize the many talents we already have in Vermont, the many innovators, trades people, farmers, foresters, entrepreneurs, activists, and creative thinkers and others ready to take Vermont into the future that is rapidly emerging.”
Things have changed very significantly since the release of the assessment by the Vermont Commission on Country Life in 1931, “A Program for the Future,” by 200 Vermonters, but it is time again for a similar bipartisan assessment involving Vermonters from all interests and backgrounds that might again be a blueprint for the future of our state.
