George D. Aiken Resource Conservation & Development Area.

The George D. Aiken Resource, Conservation & Development Area (Aiken RC&D) was founded in 1964 under the U.S. Food and Agricultural Act of 1962, an act of Congress sponsored by U.S. Senator George D. Aiken (R-Vermont). It was one of the ten original RC&D areas established in the United States and did not include Aiken's name at its inception. A separate RC&D area for northern Vermont was established in 1973 and is not part of this collection. The Aiken RC&D was a locally initiated and run program designed to help people develop, use and renew their natural and human resources. The Aiken RC&D eventually encompassed all six southern counties in Vermont, although when it was founded the area was limited to southeastern Vermont (all of Windsor and Windham Counties plus sections of Orange, Rutland, and Bennington Counties).

The program was sponsored by natural resources conservation districts, regional commissions, and local development corporations. These sponsoring organizations appointed representatives to serve on the RC&D Coordinating Committee, the official body that conducted, directed and prioritized RC&D technical and financial help for the sponsoring organizations. The coordinating committee developed an area plan and an annual plan of work. Generally, the RC&D served a coordinating function and provided technical assistance and low cost loans to communities related to erosion and sediment control, flood prevention, land drainage, recreation, tourism, water quality, forest product utilization, and conservation education. The Aiken RC&D was particularly interest in installing dry fire-fighting hydrants in rural areas and building timber retaining walls and timber bridges.

The RC&D was an independent, non-profit, non-partisan organization that was overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Nationally, the RC&D programs fell under the auspices of the Soil Conservation Service and then later under the Natural Resources Conservation Service.