As Vermont lawmakers debate the next phase of clean water enforcement under bills like S.124, many Vermonters may not realize that one of the most influential forces shaping the state’s environmental policy—both inside and outside the State House—is a taxpayer-funded nonprofit that also collaborates with a political advocacy group.
The Vermont Natural Resources Council (VNRC), founded in 1963, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that advocates for conservation, land use planning, and environmental regulation. It also regularly receives public money. In fiscal year 2023 alone, IRS filings show that VNRC took in more than $661,170 in government grants. Past years reflect similar or higher figures—$553,875 in FY2021, and $751,454 the year before that.
That’s not unusual. Many nonprofits perform contract work for the state. But what makes VNRC unique—and increasingly controversial—is how its operations blur the line between public service, litigation, and partisan influence.
A Partner With a Political Arm
By its own admission, VNRC operates under a formal “Memorandum of Agreement and Resource Sharing Agreement” with Vermont Conservation Voters (VCV), a 501(c)(4) political advocacy group that endorses candidates, scores legislators, and lobbies for climate-related legislation. The arrangement, described in VCV’s own leadership recruitment materials, enables the two organizations to share staff, office space, and administrative infrastructure.
As one VCV document plainly states:
“VCV’s work is carried out by a year-round staff of three, with administrative and operational support provided through our partnership with VNRC, in accordance with a Memorandum of Agreement and Resource Sharing Agreement between the 501(c)(3) and 501(c)(4) organizations.”
Several recent executives of VCV came directly from VNRC leadership roles—and vice versa. VCV’s current Executive Director, Dan Fingas, was previously VNRC’s Climate Action Coordinator. VNRC’s newly appointed Executive Director, Lauren Hierl, formerly served as the Executive Director and Political Director of VCV.
In short, one nonprofit receives public funds to educate the public and offer policy expertise. The other leverages overlapping staff and infrastructure to endorse candidates, push legislation, and organize voters.
Co-Producing Advocacy Media
The collaboration extends beyond back-office logistics. VNRC hosts and publishes the Climate Dispatch video series—more than 100 videos promoting climate legislation and often featuring sitting lawmakers, including those endorsed by VCV.
While VCV calls the series a co-production, it is released solely under VNRC branding, on VNRC’s official YouTube channel, and frequently includes calls to action urging viewers to contact legislators or support specific bills.
In one episode, VCV Executive Director Lauren Hierl urged:
“Please, please reach out… and urge your representatives to override the governor’s veto of the Affordable Heat Act.”
Another episode calls the 2024 legislative session “a banner year for the environment,” with instructions to “call the governor’s office or email the governor’s office” and push for specific climate bills to be signed.
This isn’t general public education. It’s targeted advocacy, often in support of legislation that VCV is actively lobbying for—produced and distributed by a 501(c)(3) nonprofit receiving taxpayer funding.
Legal Influence and Policy Pressure
VNRC has regularly aligned with groups like the Conservation Law Foundation (CLF) on litigation strategies aimed at shaping environmental enforcement in Vermont. While VNRC has not always been a named plaintiff, it has supported or joined efforts—including appeals of wastewater permits and public advocacy surrounding Clean Water Act mandates—that push for stricter regulatory action.
VNRC’s own Executive Director Brian Shupe put it this way at a co-hosted forum with VCV:
“We do all that through advocacy, through litigation, and through public education and outreach.”
Only minutes later, VCV’s Lauren Hierl added:
“We help support candidates who share our vision and values.”
With VNRC helping design policy and VCV helping elect the people who vote on it, the system begins to look less like democracy in action and more like a closed loop of influence.
Transparency vs. Tactics
There is no suggestion at this time that VNRC has broken any laws. But the structure of its partnership with VCV—and its dual role as a contractor, litigator, and public influencer—suggests a level of political entanglement that goes far beyond typical nonprofit advocacy.
“It’s not about whether you agree with their goals,” one observer noted. “It’s about whether taxpayers should be footing the bill—either directly through grants or indirectly through regulatory and legal costs—while the same entity is shaping elections, policy, and enforcement frameworks.”
If that sounds like a strong claim, consider this: VCV and VNRC jointly hosted a 2022 Congressional Candidates Forum, screened attendees, and wrote the questions asked on stage. That event was live-streamed under VNRC’s banner and featured both organizations’ executives side-by-side, introducing candidates and offering closing remarks.
For a state as small as Vermont, with tight social and political circles, this level of institutional overlap may be inevitable. But for a public increasingly concerned about transparency, accountability, and the rising cost of environmental mandates, it’s a dynamic that deserves more daylight.
As debates over Act 64 implementation and new enforcement tools continue, lawmakers and the public alike may want to ask not only what rules are being proposed—but who is writing them, and who is paying for the pen.
Dave Soulia | FYIVT
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