For more than half a century, Vermont has stood as a shining example of what a place can be when beauty is protected, not sold off to the highest bidder. The state’s pioneering 1968 ban on billboards has preserved something rare in America today: uncluttered roadsides, sweeping mountain views, and communities defined by character—not commercialism.

That legacy is now under threat.

The recent appearance of mobile billboards on Vermont roads isn’t just a nuisance, it’s a violation of the very spirit that has made Vermont beloved by residents and visitors alike. These rolling ad boards, wrapped around trucks and vans, commanding the attention of motorists and pedestrians, are not a novelty—they are billboards, plain and simple. They impose themselves where they don’t belong, disrupting the quiet dignity of Vermont’s landscapes and the values the state has fiercely defended for generations.

Vermont didn’t keep its skies open and its roadways scenic for this. It chose a different path—a path of restraint, stewardship, and pride in place. Allowing mobile billboards to stake a claim here is a dangerous step toward the erosion of that hard-won identity.

Scenic America urges Vermont’s leaders and communities to act swiftly to preserve what makes the state so extraordinary. We will be sending a letter to the Vermont Agency of Transportation, VTrans, requesting their swift action to publicly denounce mobile billboards as a violation of the state’s longstanding ban on outdoor advertising, reinforce the language of their ban to specifically include mobile billboards, and work to penalize any mobile billboards on Vermont roads.

The views in the Green Mountain State belong to everyone. Let’s keep them that way.

– Scenic America