This photo shows a nuclear plant on the Connecticut will dwarf old Vernon Dam plant in the article “Twenty-five Years” from the Autumn 1970 issue of Vermont Life (Vol. 25 Issue 1). There is much emphasis on the gradually-accelerating economic and social changes of the post-war era, particularly with recreational centers attracting migrations to Vermont. The first decade magazine readers were traditionalists, and now the median subscribers are likely parents in their forties with children. The article addresses the activist role that Vermont Life should take instead of “purveying pretty pictures”. In other words, “It’s the mission of attracting people to Vermont, some said, already has worked too well. The magazine should turn its aim to keeping Vermont unspoiled.”
Environmentalism is utilized to voice concerns for directing and controlling forces of change, particularly for planning and conservation. Now, concern for the environment is important news, which contrasts prior years, where ecology and environmental control were theorist abstractions. Interestingly, environmental concerns related to Vermont’s special quality are not too new as a “Committee of 200 Vermonters” foreshadowed many problems like forest conservation today.