FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 29, 2024
Media Contacts:
Chloe Miller, Green Mountain Club Communication Manager,
[email protected], (907) 632-7405
Jon Reidel, Middlebury College Director of Media Relations,
[email protected], 802-443-4208
Middlebury College Grants Trail Right-of-Way to Green Mountain Club
1.5 miles of Long Trail permanently protected
WATERBURY, VT – Middlebury College has donated a trail right-of-way to the Green Mountain Club that permanently protects 1.5 miles of Long Trail treadway.
This trail right-of-way protects the longest remaining section of privately owned Long Trail treadway. Its donation brings the total miles of unprotected Long Trail down to just 4.5 miles, or 2% of the Long Trail. Since 1986 the Green Mountain Club has been seeking permanent protection for the Long Trail and its surrounding lands, and the donation by Middlebury is a significant step forward toward achieving that goal.
“The Green Mountain Club is tremendously grateful to Middlebury College for their donation of a trail right-of-way to protect the Long Trail. Generous and supportive landowners like Middlebury College are what have made the Long Trail possible for 114 years. We couldn’t have Vermont’s hiking trails without them and GMC is excited to be deepening our partnership with the College through this trail right-of-way,” said Mike DeBonis, GMC Executive Director.
The 272-mile Long Trail is a long-distance hiking trail that runs the length of Vermont from Massachusetts to Canada, along the spine of the Green Mountains. It was conceived in 1910, served as the inspiration for the Appalachian Trail and, along with its side trails, provides 500 miles of hiking trails in Vermont. The Long Trail draws thousands of locals and visitors each year and provides economic and wellness benefits for local communities. Permanent protection of the Long Trail will ensure that hikers and communities continue to have access to and benefit from this incredible recreation asset.
“Middlebury College’s century-long partnership with the Green Mountain Club is a shared commitment to preserving land for the public good,” said President Laurie L. Patton. “We’re pleased to help ensure that access to the storied Long Trail—and its enjoyment by our entire community—will continue into the future.”
Since it was first constructed in the 1910s, the Long Trail has crossed the property that is now Middlebury Snowbowl. The route of the LT by Pleiad Lake and up Worth Mountain is first depicted in the Green Mountain Club’s 1920 Long Trail Guide. Middlebury College was granted the land from Joseph Battell in 1916 and the first downhill ski trails were cut in 1934, making the Snowbowl one of Vermont’s earliest ski areas.
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About Green Mountain Club
Established in 1910 to build the Long Trail, the Green Mountain Club is a private non-profit organization with over 9,800 members. GMC is dedicated to maintaining and protecting Vermont’s historic Long Trail, Appalachian Trail in Vermont, and the Kingdom Heritage Lands trails in the Northeast Kingdom. Every year more than 1,000 volunteers work so that current and future generations will enjoy the 500-mile Long Trail System. Contact the Green Mountain Club to learn more about the GMC or to become a member.
About Middlebury College
Middlebury is an undergraduate college; a graduate school for international studies; a home for immersive language study; a graduate school for the study of literature, literacy, and pedagogy; a leader of schools abroad sites that span the globe; and a home for the oldest and most prestigious writers’ conference in the world, which has spawned conferences in environmental writing and translation as well.
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