In response to some of the comments regarding the Bill H.223 now making its way through the Vermont Legislative process, JPA president, Tom Dente, contacted our representative, Kitty Toll.  Kitty owns property here at Joe's Pond.  Here is her reply to Tom:
 

House bill H.526 is the shore lands bill passed by the House. H.223 is still in committee, but parts of it are addressed in H.526.  I did support the bill. The towns of Cabot and Peacham will not be impacted by this bill, I am told, because they currently have bylaws/ordinances that apply to shorelands. My camp on Joes Pond is located in the town of Cabot and I am currently restricted from cutting trees within 50 feet of the shore. At this time part of the properties on Joes Pond have shoreline restrictions while others do not.  I believe 48 Vermont towns have bylaws in place. Those that do not, such as Danville, will have until January 2015 to adopt their own bylaws. The bylaws must address vegetative cover. If a town chooses not to pass its own bylaws, then these provisions will come into effect if the bill passes the Senate and is also signed by the Governor. It is probably in the best interest of towns to have their own bylaws in place by 2015.

This bill is now being considered in the Senate Committee on Natural Resources where we may see changes.

Please let me know if there are specific concerns that you would like related to the Senate. 
Kitty