Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center
Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center (BEEC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in West Brattleboro, Vermont, founded in 1991 to foster experiences that inspire connection to the natural world and its many inhabitants. Situated on a picturesque 60-acre former farm at the base of Heifer Hill, BEEC has grown from a small community learning center into southeastern Vermont's leading outdoor education organization, welcoming campers, school groups, and nature lovers of all ages onto its trails and into its programs year-round.
BEEC's work spans environmental education, community-led conservation, and wildlife rescue. Their naturalists lead science-based school programs, youth day camps, and natural history hikes and workshops, while also coordinating hands-on conservation efforts like the Salamander Crossing Brigades, where volunteers help amphibians safely cross roads on rainy spring nights, and ongoing Beaver Partnerships that help towns and landowners find ways to coexist with these ecosystem-engineering neighbors. BEEC is also on call to help the public with injured or orphaned wildlife, connecting community members with licensed rehabilitators and providing guidance for everything from fledgling birds to displaced fawns.
BEEC's mission is rooted in place as much as it is in people. The organization sits within the homelands of the Abenaki people, and its land carries stories that stretch back centuries, from old stone walls and sugar maples to the working farm once run by founders Paul and Dorothea Stockwell. Today, BEEC's 2+ miles of trails remain free and open to the public from dawn to dusk, and the sweeping view from the summit of Heifer Hill continues to greet every visitor who makes the climb. Whether through a summer camp memory, a salamander saved on a rainy night, or a quiet walk through the hemlocks, BEEC keeps its community rooted in genuine connection to the wild world around them.
"The more clearly we focus our attention on the wonders and realities of the universe about us, the less taste we shall have for its destruction."
- Rachel Carson
Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center Work
The following are a couple highlights of the impactful work of the Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center.
Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center Constantly Connects the Community to Nature
- Founded in 1991, BEEC has grown into southeastern Vermont's leading outdoor education center, hosted on 60 acres of fields, forest, and trails in West Brattleboro
- BEEC's trails are free and open to the public year-round, dawn to dusk, including the sweeping view from the summit of Heifer Hill
- Youth day camps, school programs, and community workshops bring hands-on ecological learning to children and adults of all ages
- The Salamander Crossing Brigades mobilize volunteers on rainy spring nights to help amphibians safely cross roads during their annual migration
- BEEC's Beaver Partnerships & Programs work directly with towns and landowners to find humane, lasting solutions for living alongside beavers
- BEEC is on call for the community, connecting people with licensed wildlife rehabilitators when they find an injured or orphaned animal
BEEC's roots trace back to 1971, when Paul and Dorothea Stockwell founded the Heifer Hill Learning Center on their family farm, driven by a desire to share their land and love of learning with the community. That spirit carried forward in 1991, when Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center was formally established to foster greater awareness, understanding, and appreciation of the natural world and to help build an ecologically literate community. Today, BEEC leases its land through the Earth Bridge Community Land Trust and continues to steward the former farm buildings and 60 acres of fields, forest, and wetlands that make up its campus. What began as one family's desire to share their land has grown into a cornerstone of environmental education for southeastern Vermont, one that still welcomes new visitors to discover Heifer Hill for the first time every single day.
History of BEEC
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75% of this month's donations will go towards this month's partner, the Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center.
This month and every month, Wild Boyz Photography will be partnering with one nonprofit. 75% of any donations that we receive during the month will go to the nonprofit. Help the Bonnyvale Environmental Education Center today!