After almost three decades of working in corrections, Lisa Menard was named the department's commissioner on October 1. She takes charge just months after Vermont's out-of-state prisoners moved to a new facility in Michigan. And at a time when our inmate population has dropped to its lowest total since the early 2000s.
We discuss these issues and her vision for the future of the department with new Vermont Corrections Commissioner Lisa Menard.
Also on the program, almost a decade ago, Abenaki scholar and paleo-ethnobotanist Fred Wiseman started working with Abenaki communities as part of the documentation process for federal tribal recognition. While he was in these communities, he noticed crops that had long been thought to have disappeared growing on the hillsides. It led Wiseman to start the Seeds of Renewal Project. He has painstakingly tracked down native seeds and worked to get these seeds preserved and back into agricultural production. But just as crucial as growing the crops is reinvigorating the connection to traditional cultural rituals that are tied to agriculture. Wiseman discusses the project and how many crops still need to be preserved.
Broadcast live on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2015 at noon; rebroadcast at 7 p.m.
