A Welcome Message from Our Director

More than a full year into our existence, VCE has every reason to celebrate. Our feet are firmly on the gound, our programs strong, our finances stable, our staff energized, and our constituents more engaged than ever. We launched ourselves in October of 2007 with resolve and optimism, but a healthy dose of apprehension, especially given current economic vagaries. However, our outlook is overwhelmingly positive as we round the corner into year two.

In addition to our overall vitality, we can count a number of individual successes over the past year. These include spearheading formation of the International Bicknell's Thrush Conservation Group, hosting a memorable 3-week summer exchange with four partners from Hispaniola, retooling and expanding our signature Mountain Birdwatch program, compiling five years of volunteer-collected field data for our Breeding Bird Atlas book, cataloguing >50,000 records for the Vermont Butterfly Survey, launching the innovative Vermont Insect Database Alliance, completing our 20th year of the Vermont Forest Bird Monitoring Program, and overseenig yet another record year for nesting loons. The list goes on, and I encourage you to more fully explore these and other VCE projects on this web site.

For any organization, whether fledgling or long-tenured, it's all about the people. VCE would not be where it is without the remarkable support that has come in so many forms and from so many corners. Our many stakeholders -- whether citizen scientists, conservation partners, financial supporters, or office volunteers (many wear all those hats!) -- have played a crucial and much-appreciated role in our success to date. We thank all of you, invite newcomers to join the VCE ranks, and are eager to advance wildlife conservation with your collective help.

Chris Rimmer