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Putney Mountain Association receives $116,000 ‘Missing Links” award from Vermont Housing and Conservation board.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE. January 25, 2020
For more Information, please contact Richard Fletcher, PMA Trustee
(802) 387-6017 rafletch5@gmail.com

Putney Mountain Association receives $116,000 ‘Missing Links’
Award from Vermont Housing and Conservation Board
The goal of Putney Mountain’s Missing Links Project in Dummerston is to fill in gaps in an
existing 45-mile trail, thereby completing the entire route from Grafton to Brattleboro. The
Putney Mt. Association is working with local organizations and residents to make this long-held
dream a reality.
Benefits of the Missing Links Project

 provide hiking, snow shoeing and other recreational activities on a new trail
route from Prospect Hill near Dummerston Center to the Putney Mt. trails
 protect an important wildlife corridor within a densely settled area
 provide public access for hunting and education
 conserve fifty-five acres of forested land

Dummerston Community Cooperation
Recently six Dummerston families agreed to enable a new trail connection from Prospect Hill,
near Dummerston Center, north to the Putney Mountain trail system. The trail will have
glimpses of Mt. Monadnock to the east and Haystack and Mt Snow to the west. It passes
through an old sugar bush, through a hemlock forest dated at 175 years, passes by the third
largest ash tree in the state, and through a varied geologic and ecological landscape.
Land Acquisition
Two parcels, totaling 55 acres, that are missing links in the trail will be purchased by Putney Mt
Association and conserved by the Vermont Land Trust. The Vermont Housing and Conservation
Board awarded $116,000 towards this project in December. Foundations and generous local
residents have provided almost three-quarters of the funding needed to purchase, conserve
and steward the land. We are so close to making this happen!
Dummerston Public Meeting: Wednesday March 18 at 7 pm
Dummerston Center Congregational Church – downstairs
You are invited to a public information meeting to learn about the new Missing Links Project
and to attend a special presentation by Tom Wessels, on “Connections: Nature’s Most
Important Attribute”. Tom Wessels, a visionary leader and founder of the Conservation

Biology graduate program at Antioch University, is known as the author of many books,
including “Reading the Forested Landscape” a guide to interpreting the history of land use in
any one particular spot.  Hikers especially love his guided walks where Tom teaches us to see
deeply the juncture of landscape and culture as we explore the woods.
Wessels describes his topic as follows: “Life on Earth has not only sustained itself, but thrived
for 3.8 billion years. The very foundation for life’s success is creating robust, complex networks
of mutually beneficial interrelationships. This is an important lesson for our current society
where our collective well-being will only be found in a robust array of beneficial
interrelationships and connections within our communities and with nature itself.”

About the Putney Mountain Association
The Putney Mountain Association is a private, non-profit volunteer organization with the
primary objective of acquiring and protecting land on Putney Mountain, Windmill Ridge and the
surrounding area for wildlife habitat and public recreation.