The Mad River Valley Conservation and Recreation Visioning (CRV) Steering Committee hosts its third community forum at Lareau Farm Pavilion in Waitsfield for a discussion around balancing outdoor recreation and ecological integrity. The event takes place on October 9 and builds on two previous forums and two community learning sessions.
The evening begins with an informal potluck from 5 to 6 p.m. People are encouraged to bring a dish to share, as well as a plate and utensils. Steering committee members will be available to answer questions about the project, process, or agenda for the evening. Dress for a cool evening.
From 6 to 8 p.m. consultants from Arrowwood Environmental, Huntington, will describe the results of the survey that CRV put out to the community over the summer, which resulted in over 200 submissions. An executive summary of the results and comprehensive analysis are available for public review on the CRV webpage: https://www.mrvrd.org/about-crv. Arrowwood has provided support to the project since last fall.
“We were thrilled to have so many responses and hope people will read through the survey results ahead of time and bring their questions to the forum. The analysis provided by Aaron Worthley of Arrowwood will help us use this information to make decisions based on community feedback,” said Laura Arnesen, director of the Mad River Valley Recreation District and co-chair of the CRV steering committee.
Following Arrowwood’s presentation, steering committee members will lead a panel discussion on one of their recent efforts: the creation of a Desired Conditions Statement.
The panel will begin with pre-selected questions, and then members of the public will have an opportunity to ask questions and offer comments to the panelists. The Desired Conditions Statement is available to read in advance, also on the CRV webpage.
The final portion of the meeting will be dedicated to a science fair-style series of table discussions focused on these topics: Key Ecological Features of The Valley, CRV’s web-based Mapping Tool, the Future of CRV, Community Values, and a possible CRV Code of Ethics. A steering committee member will staff each table, guiding conversation and answering key questions. Members of the public will be able to choose which discussion(s) they’d like to participate in.
The CRV meeting will end with a description of next steps. The CRV work has been funded as part of a Vermont Outdoor Recreation Economic Collaborative grant which also created a recreation hub in Waitsfield linking The Valley’s commercial centers with its trail networks. The VOREC grant that has funded the first couple years of the project will be closing out in December, so it will be up to the steering committee and Tsshe Valley community to determine the future of this essential effort. With that in mind, the steering committee will be hosting another forum in November, to present the grant deliverables and look ahead.
