Природа, климат и история Северо-Восточного Королевства Вермонта

There are also black bear, deer, bobcat, coyote, fox, fisher, loon, wild turkey, and ruffed grouse. In 2013, Canadian lynxes were spotted. These prey on the snowshoe hare. Martens, extinct in Vermont by the early 20th century, have found their way back to the Northeast Kingdom in small groups in the 21st century from New Hampshire or Canada. The Virginia opossum moved into the area in the 1950s.

According to the Köppen climate classification system, the Northeast Kingdom has a Warm summer, Humid continental climate (Dfb). Dfb climates are characterized by a least one month having an average mean temperature ≤ , at least four months with an average mean temperature ≥ , all months with an average mean temperature < and no significant precipitation difference between seasons. Although most summer days are comfortably humid in the Northeast Kingdom, episodes of warmth and moderate humidity can occur with heat index values > Since 1981, the highest air temperature at Island Pond was on 07/08/1988, and the highest daily average mean dew point was on 07/02/2018. Since 1981, the wettest calendar day was on 08/28/2011. During the winter months, the average annual extreme minimum air temperature is Since 1981, the coldest air temperature at Island Pond was on 01/04/1981. Episodes of extreme cold and wind can occur with wind chill values <
The average growing season is about 123 130 frost free days. On December 30, 1933, the lowest recorded temperature in the New England states was registered as , at Bloomfield in Essex County. Snowfall is plentiful in the region, and very large snowstorms occur every few years. These have included the 2007 Valentine's Day Blizzard, which brought to the area over a two day period. This was nearly matched on March 6, 2011, when the area received of snow. This snow fall variable was matched again on two separate occasions in 2017, with 18 24" of new snow covering the area exactly a month apart. Both storms also severely effected the rest of New England and Upstate New York.

The retreating glacier allowed the northern migration of early humans around 9300 BCE, descendants of Asian immigrants during the Ice Age. By 7300 BCE, people and a changing environment had eliminated large game from the area such as caribou and mastodons. From 1000 BCE to 1600 CE, Abenakis inhabited the Kingdom. The Cowasucks were Abenakis, members of the Wabanaki Confederacy, the Algonquian pact of five tribes which banded together to combat Iroquois aggression perhaps about 1500, though the exact date of the Iroquois pact is unknown. European diseases, such as typhus, contracted from exposure to traders, killed many of the Cowasucks until only a few hundred were left in the Northeast Kingdom by 1600.

The Northeast Kingdom's popularity as a destination grew strongly from the moment that Governor George Aiken delivered a name for the region in 1949. Vermont Public Radio reporter Charlotte Albright researched the naming process and wrote, "The novelist Howard Frank Mosher, who immortalizes the area in his fictional "Kingdom County," believes Aiken cooked up the phrase while fishing in Essex County." Aiken and his wife Lola were surprised at how strongly the term caught on. Patent medicines were popular here, as in other rural regions, in the late 19th century. The local pharmacists who devised these "cures" gradually metamorphosed into today's pharmacies, and in the Northeast Kingdom they are still businesses where residents are often recognized and greeted by name. Similarly, the area's "country doctors" are now affiliated with two regional hospitals (North Country Regional Hospital in Newport, VT, and Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital in St. Johnsbury, VT), as well as the Dartmouth Hitchcock network. There were about 49 "town dumps" where residents disposed of trash, operating in the NEK prior to 1987. After the state began regulating the environment in 1987, 41 of these closed down, including the one at what is now Gardner Park in Newport. Seven of the remainder closed during subsequent state regulatory activity. Only the one in Coventry, owned by Charlie Nadeau, remained. The Parker landfill in Lyndonville closed, as did the ones in Barton, Morrisville, Colebrook, Morgan, Westmore, and Lunenburg. In 2010, Yankee magazine named the NEK the second favorite romantic getaway and the third favorite family getaway in New England. In 2015, the region featured half a dozen local radio stations, as well as regional versions of Vermont Public Radio (FM88.5 broadcast from Burke Mountain) and Montpelier's The Point; popular are Magic 97.7 FM broadcast from Lyndonville, VT, and MOO (WMOO) at 92.1FM from Derby Center, Vermont.

In all three counties, estimated population dropped between 2010 and 2012 by about 200 people. State population declined slightly as well.

As in the rest of New England, there is a strong state government. Town government often uses unpaid volunteers for its services. There is a superficial county government, all funded by the state. The counties have sheriffs, judges, prosecutors, and other officers; all, except for judges, elected by the county, but funded by the state. Recognizing the need for services on an intermediate level, state legislation created the Regional Planning Commissions (RPC), to aid the towns in land use issues, and Economic Development Commissions (EDC), tasked with fostering economic development in their jurisdictions. These RPCs and EDCs report to the Vermont Agency of Commerce and Community Development. They must also report to their boards, which are made up of representatives of each town in the commission. As with some state agencies there is provision for these commissions to also organize as nonprofit groups, yet still maintain status as government agencies. This method of organization permits RPCs and EDCs to augment their state and federal funding with other sources of income. This arrangement also allows the EDCs to own properties such as industrial parks and Business Incubator Facilities. RPCs and EDCs have no taxing or regulatory authority. However, RPCs do write a regional plan (as towns can have town plans). Town plans can not run contrary to the regional plans. RPCs also have automatic party status to any ACT 250 applications. ACT 250 permits are the state's Land Use Permit issued by the Land Use Panel of the Vermont Natural Resources Board. ACT 250 applications must be in compliance with the RPC's Regional Plan. A copy of all ACT 250 permit applications must be submitted (by the applicants) to the RPCs for review. The Northeast Kingdom is unique, as it benefits from an agency that is both an Economic Development Commission as well as a Regional Planning Commission, the Northeastern Vermont Development Association and Regional Planning Commission (NVDA). Under a state legislators' study to lower state government spending, lawmakers have been looking to the Northeast Kingdom's RPC/EDC as a model for possible consolidation of agencies throughout the state. Municipalities are governed by an elected Board of Selectmen and managed by an elected town or city clerk.

Various organizations are tasked with aiding public health including the Northeast Kingdom Human Services. The Kingdom is part of a Rural Economic Area Partnership which the federal government funds. This may pay for improvements in health and safety.

In 2010 the largest dairy farmer in the state was in Orleans County with 5,000 head and 2,500 milkers, spread over five farms. Maple syrup is produced in the region.

The area offers mountain biking, skiing, and fall foliage viewing. A rail trail across the southern part of the Kingdom originates in St. Johnsbury on South Main Street as part of the Lamoille Valley Rail Trail; in the north, the Kingdom Heritage Lands feature multiple use access, including hiking, bicycling, and hunting; and in the center of the Kingdom, radiating outward from Burke Mountain, are hundreds of acres threaded with well kept trails provided via Kingdom Trails of East Burke, VT.

There are a number of non profit, non governmental agencies, that either offer services or promote business or housing. These include the Northern Community Investment Corporation, based in St. Johnsbury; Rural Edge, formerly known as the Gilman Housing Trust; the Lyndon Outing Club, an all volunteer run ski hill providing affordable skiing to the community since 1937; and The Kingdom Trail Association, which builds and maintains the non motorized recreational trail network in Burke.

In 2008, 74% of the roads were rated in poor or very poor condition. There were 480 bridges with spans of 20 feet (6 m) or more. There were a number of bridges deemed structurally deficient. 63 percent of those were municipally owned.

Rural Community Transportation runs out of Saint Johnsbury and serves Caledonia, Essex, Lamoille, and Orleans counties.

There are three state airports: Northeast Kingdom International Airport (KEFK) in Newport/Coventry, Caledonia County State Airport (KCDA) in Lyndonville; and John H. Boylan State Airport (5B1) in Island Pond. Light private and business aircraft land there. KEFK has two runways, its long 1615.44 m runway allows for jet operations. KEFK is served by U. S. Customs as a designated Landing Rights Airport.

The Northeast Kingdom Waste and Central Vermont Solid Management Districts are in charge of implementing Vermont's Act 148, initiating mandatory recycling. In 2014, the NEK recycled about 20%, low for the state which averages 30–36%. Recycling rates in the Central Vermont District meet the state average. An average citizen here produces of trash per person per day, compared to for the rest of the state. The budget for the 2016 calendar year was $716,673. Towns or haulers were charged $23.25 per ton. The Kingdom produced about half the national average of trash. This is the result of lower incomes and fewer places to shop.

Peacham was used as the filming location for the 1993 movie Ethan Frome, based on the novel of the same name. The 1996 film The Spitfire Grill was largely shot in Peacham. Robert Frost wrote a poem with the Kingdom as its topic entitled "A Servant to Servants". Several of Archer Mayor's books in the Joe Gunther series based on a Vermont detective are set in the Northeast Kingdom. Chris Bohjalian's novel Midwives places most of its action in the Northeast Kingdom.