All Vermont Payment for Ecosystem Services and Soil Health Working Group (PES WG) meetings are open to the public, and will have public comment periods.
This webpage will be kept up to date with upcoming PES WG meeting schedules, agendas, and information on how to access each meeting. Materials related to each past meeting and agendas for upcoming meetings will be uploaded once available at PES WG Meetings and Materials. Webinars are held occasionally between meetings: recordings will be shared at PES Working Group Webinars.
To join an upcoming meeting, find the Agenda & Registration Link for the meeting on PES WG Meetings and Materials.
Upcoming meeting schedule:
We are holding our fall meetings via Zoom on the first and third Tuesday of the month, 12-2 PM, beginning on September 21, 2021.
- September 21
- October 5
- October 19
- November 2 - CANCELLED
- November 16
- December 7
- December 21
Background on the PES Working Group
Act 83 of 2019 directed the Secretary of Agriculture, Food and Markets to convene a "Soil Conservation Practice and Payment for Ecosystem Services Working Group", with membership determined by the Legislature. The purpose of this Working Group (PES Working Group) is to recommend financial incentives designed to encourage farmers in Vermont to implement agricultural practices that improve soil health, enhance crop resilience, increase carbon storage and stormwater storage capacity, and reduce agricultural runoff to waters. Membership in the Working Group is directed by this Act.
The PES Working Group submitted a report to the Vermont Legislature on Wednesday January 15th, 2020. Ryan Patch (VAAFM) and Nancy Everhart (VACD) additionally presented on this report to the Senate Committee on Agriculture the morning of Friday January 17th, 2020 in a session also attended by several Working Group members and stakeholders.
Following several recommendations of the PES Working Group as laid out in the January 15 2020 Report to Legislature, Act 129 of 2020 amended Act 83 of 2019 to rename the "Payment for Ecosystem Services and Soil Health Working Group," to establish this Working Group until January 2022, to direct the inclusion of several additional seats on this Working Group, and to lay out the charges for this Working Group.
