Natural Connections Through The Years

Vermont Parks Forever helps to fund interpretive programming materials for use in nature education programming throughout the state park system. Check out what our donors have made possible throughout the years:

2021

Vermont Parks Forever provided nature interpretation funds used to purchase catamount teaching kits which included replicas of skulls, fur, claws and scat. Vermont State Park interpreters, in partnership with the Vermont History Museum, delivered hands- on training on the cultural and natural history of catamounts in Vermont. Additionally, nature interpretation funds provided by Vermont Parks Forever were dedicated to purchasing licensure for Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Raven software create mobile interactive exhibits with sound visualization to share information about bird songs and other sounds of the forest.

2022

Funds were used to focus on indigenous storytelling and master storyteller Michael Caduto worked with state park employees on respectful ways to share stories of native cultures.

Other nature education enhancements funded by VPF included a new program at Silver Lake State Park about active beavers in that park, additional park licensure for Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s Raven software - a sound visualization software to share information about bird songs, and the creation of 10 story walks.

2023

In June 2023, we gathered with hundreds of nature enthusiasts to cut the ribbon and celebrate the grand opening of the Groton Nature Center. Together with ECHO, Leahy Center for Lake Champlain and Vermont State Parks, we completed our first Natural Connections project. The Groton Nature Center is free to the public and invites park visitors of all ages to enjoy museum-quality exhibits in the heart of the 27,000-acre Groton State Forest. Surrounded by seven state parks, the Groton Nature Center has been completely modernized and reimagined.

2024

In 2024, VPF provided funding to create a story walk library to be used throughout the park system and funded bear educational materials to help decrease interactions with humans in state parks. Additionally, over 4,400 visitors were engaged at the free, museum- quality Groton Nature Center in the first year since its reopening.