Natural Resources

Scenic Resources

The region enjoys exceptional scenic quality.  Mountain and farm landscapes, historic villages and towns, ridgelines, the night sky and nighttime landscapes, shorelines, and scenic corridors are all highly vulnerable to development and should be reviewed. 

Structures such as utility poles, telecommunication towers, wind turbines, cleared powerline rights of way, large-scale signage, and streetlights are considered by many to be incongruous with our scenic landscape.  Careful planning and design will often provide development opportunities without adversely affecting the scenic value of the landscape.  Some towns in the region have developed specific zoning or policies related to ridgeline development, such as limiting residential, commercial or industrial development on certain ridgelines.  It is important for towns to identify the specific scenic resources that they deem significant and to clearly delineate those resources in their plans.  Scenic resources can be a highly subjective topic in review processes, which is why it is important to be proactive about clarifying the scenic resources the town wishes to preserve.

Light Pollution

Light pollution is a cumulative and increasing problem that can disrupt wildlife patterns, impact human health, waste money and energy, and contribute to climate change. In the Windham Region, light pollution is especially increasing near the urban clusters along the region’s eastern border and near major resort development centers. Light projecting upwards from these areas produces a glow near the horizon that diminishes the natural quality of the nighttime landscape and night sky. As these urbanized areas continue to expand, special consideration needs to be given to lighting design in order to minimize this cumulative adverse effect. Automatic shut-off mechanisms and down-shielding of light sources should be considered for any development with outdoor lighting.

In the Windham Region, Green Mountain National Forest, especially in the towns of Somerset and Searsburg is a popular dark sky location for stargazing and astronomy activities.