A $500 million development proposal that backers say could
create 10,000 temporary and permanent jobs across the Northeast
Kingdom would be historic. But it
could also bring big changes to Jay, Newport,
Coventry and Burke, the communities
where all the development is targeted. Even some political leaders from the
region have described the potential for change as scary.
VPR’s Charlotte Albright describes what Jay Peak President
Bill Stenger and his partners have in mind. And Jane Kolodinsky, professor of
Community Development and Applied Economics at the University
of Vermont and director of the
Center for Rural Studies, describes how such big developments can affect a
community’s quality of life.
Post your questions and comments about the plans for the Northeast
Kingdom here or email them to vermontedition@vpr.net.
Also on the program, writer Kristen Fountain researched
the string of fire towers that once dotted mountaintops across the Northeast for Northern Woodlands magazine.
She describes how, although only a few of the towers remain in Vermont, they come alive in
the memories of those who worked in them watching for forest fires.