The Upper Valley Land Trust elected three new Trustees to its Board of Directors this month at its Annual Meeting. The organization is sure to benefit from the large breadth of skills that each of these individuals brings to the Board.
UVLT Trustee, Chris Nesbitt at UVLT's Annual meeting this month. Photo by Rowan Dunfey.
Chris Nesbitt is a founding partner at Focus Acquisition Partners, where he works with a broad array of clients who have an interest in financial services, medical devices, manufacturing, business services and off-shore opportunities in both Europe and Asia. He is a veteran entrepreneur and a former commercial banker. During his career Chris has owned and successfully grown a series of middle market manufacturing and business services companies. Chris holds two patents for flexible, medical dispensing devices, is a published author and an active community volunteer. Chris and his wife Nancy, live in West Windsor, Vermont.
UVLT Trustee, Susan Renaud, at UVLT's Annual Meeting this month. Photo by Rowan Dunfey.
Susan Renaud is Chief Financial Officer at King Arthur Flour. She is an experienced senior finance/general management executive with roots in Vermont. She previously served as a mergers and acquisitions consultant at Pricewaterhouse Coopers in London, England. Susan has a master’s degree in management from London Business School. Her professional experience also includes many years working in various capacities for Ben & Jerry’s in both Vermont and France.
UVLT Trustee, Linda Snyder, at UVLT's Annual Meeting this month. Photo by Rowan Dunfey.
Linda Snyder is Vice-President for Campus Planning and Facilities at Dartmouth where she supervises the Departments of Facilities Operations and Management, the Dartmouth Real Estate Office, the Environmental Safety and Health Office, the Project Management Office and the Office of Planning and Design. Linda’s departments provide administrative support to Dartmouth’s Sustainability Program. She has a background in landscape architecture and environmental planning. She previously served as Associate Executive Dean of Physical Resources and Planning of the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard and as the Executive Director of the Massachusetts State College Building Authority. She has worked as project manager for not-for-profit, corporate, state and municipal building projects.
Two members of the Upper Valley Land Trust’s Board of Directors completed their terms as Trustees this month. They have each had a significant impact on the work of the organization, and they will be missed.
Former UVLT Trustee, Donald Graham, at UVLT's Annual Meeting this month. Photo by Rowan Dunfey.
Donald A. Graham has lived in the Upper Valley for over thirty years and practices law in White River Junction. He is a graduate of Yale College and Boston College Law School. Donald has an interest in sustainable forestry and habitat protection, and he and his wife, Carol, have donated a conservation easement on their land in Strafford and Vershire. They enjoy skiing, bird watching, gardening and forest maintenance.
Former UVLT Trustee, Doug Wise, at UVLT's Annual Meeting this month. Photo by Rowan Dunfey.
Douglas Wise is the founder and president of The Wise Associates, a strategic change agent consultancy, which focuses on visioning, strategizing and communications. Prior, he held senior management positions with advertising agencies McCann-Erickson and Lowe & Partners, and global communications company The Interpublic Group of Companies. His clients include Coca-Cola, Sony, Goodyear, Sara Lee, Bristol Myers, Gillette, Colonial Candles of Cape Cod, The C. Everett Koop Institute at Dartmouth, King Arthur Flour, Pace University, and the Archdiocese of New York.
This summer, as the Patchen Miller Intern, I am creating nature programs for children. My goal is to use outdoor art projects and observation exercises to engage children and nurture their sense of wonder. As an artist, I am excited to work on these projects, but I’m also aware that there are other ways to view and share nature with others.
Therefore, I’m extending an invitation to anyone who has a special interest or talent to accompany me on a short hike for children and their parents. You might choose to share your knowledge of natural history, animal tracks and signs, plant identification, or anything else that you find compelling. Kids love to explore and learn from a passionate teacher! I will design and lead activities to complement your unique perspective on the land. For example, I can teach the kids how to make plaster casts of animal tracks, instruct them to record species names and drawings in a nature journal, or show them how to make bark rubbings of different types of trees.
UVLT's 2011 Patchen Miller Intern, Ally Bernstein, guided a group of children in making this fairy bridge using plants and other natural objects.
These programs will be primarily aimed at kids aged eight through thirteen. Depending on your availability, we might take a one hour walk or spend an entire afternoon outside. We can choose a date in either July or August to accommodate your schedule. I have a list of UVLT-conserved lands near schools and libraries, both of which are good meeting and reflection spots, but we have a lot of flexibility in terms of location. We can adventure through a meadow, a wetland, a forest, or any area that has meaning to you. You might view a place where you’ve walked countless times in a new light when you share it with others!
Even if you don’t have a specific talent in mind, I would greatly appreciate your presence on a hike. I’m hoping that there will be a lot of interest in these programs and your assistance would be helpful! If you can’t join us on a hike, please feel free to suggest a favorite trail, special place or exciting feature that might be interesting for children to discover. I’m currently scouting locations where children might be inspired to write poetry and build fairy houses, and your ideas are useful in this process.
Learning experiences outdoors provide children with a chance to make positive emotional connections, and their enthusiasm for nature is both refreshing and contagious. Please consider this opportunity and let me know if you are interested! I can be reached through email at uvlt.intern1@uvlt.org or by phone at 603-643-6626 x121.
Best,
Ally Bernstein
UVLT’s 2011 Patchen Miller Intern
Last Sunday eight of us walked the outer loop of the Cossingham Road Farm trails. It was a gem of a day; summer warm but not hot with just enough breeze to keep us insect free. Blackberries were blossoming here and there and some of the summer wildflowers, such as the blue eyed grass, made several appearances. The woods were quiet, beautiful and peaceful; our many conversations the only sounds. The last part of the trail was an easy downhill along a pasture with a wonderful view of Moose, Smarts, Cube and Moosilauke Mountains in front of us. As one of us said along the way ” I haven’t hiked with a group in a long time. It’s nice.” Sharing seems to add to the pleasure. Join us some Sunday.
Roger Hanlon, UVLT Trustee and Sunday Stroll Leader jrhanlon@daypitney.com or (802) 785-2798
New energy is growing out of a generous gift of land from Sue Shea to the Town of Corinth, honoring her late husband Frank. The new F.X. Shea Town Forest, as the 94 acre property will be known, truly is a community resource. As Val Stori, the Town Forest’s new coordinator, said to the nearly 50 people at the June 12, 2011 dedication ceremony, “this is your forest!” The Corinth Conservation Commission and newly-formed Town Forest Committee will work with Stori to plan events, work on day to day management, and promote the forest as an educational resource.
Sue Shea celebrates with the grape vine “ribbon” cut for the dedication ceremony
Sue Shea, donor of a conservation easement to UVLT, and donor of land to the Town of Corinth
Sue Shea expressed interest in conserving her land during a time when the Orange County Headwaters Project was conducting outreach in the community. As the partner land trust working with many landowners in Corinth, the Upper Valley Land Trust (UVLT) helped Sue structure a conservation easement for her property and accepted the long-term stewardship responsibilities for the protected land in 2006. Understanding Sue’s hope for eventual town ownership of her land, UVLT included special provisions in the conservation easement to reflect these goals.
Community members thank Sue Shea for her generous gift.
This year, Sue increased the protections and ensured public access to the land with UVLT just prior to gifting the conserved property to the town of Corinth in April; she is thrilled that the forest has been so widely accepted and has fueled such interest in forest stewardship with Corinth residents. Even with the land transfer, the conservation easement stays in place – you can learn more about what it means to have the land conserved by visiting, “Conservation Easement Frequently Asked Questions.”
Having a conservation foundation for this Town Forest means that its values as a working woodland, a place for sustainable management of wildlife and water resources, and an educational resource for residents and visitors alike, will be in place forever. Dedicated support from all corners of the Upper Valley community is wrapped into celebrations such as these; from the wider community down to the local neighborhood, this region is filled with people who care deeply about the land. Celebrating the many qualities of the F.X. Shea Town Forest and the many opportunities it holds (for stewardship workshops, a new wildflower garden, place-based education for local schools, and spaces for personal exploration), is just one way that groups like the Corinth Conservation Commission, the Town Forest committee, the Upper Valley Land Trust, and neighbors and friends come together to share in hopeful occasions.
Dina Dubois guides a nature-based scavenger hunt, showcasing many small wonders of the forest.
UVLT also appreciates Freeman Foundation support, vital to this and many conservation projects in the community, for contributing necessary funds to allow UVLT to provide conservation assistance to landowners wishing to permanently protect their land. Upper Valley residents and supporters of UVLT continually bolster the land trust’s ability to expertly navigate all types of conservation projects and assure landowners that land they choose to protect today will be conserved forever. Through membership contributions, volunteered time, and legacy giving, UVLT members and friends help keep these special places as they are. Places where an excited exclamation by a young scavenger hunter finding a wild strawberry blossom can mix with encouraging words from a teacher or parent, while birdsong and breezes converge above them in the trees.
I was so pleased to be able to personally thank Sue Shea for her many conservation gifts to her community, and to be part of a celebration honoring her late husband Frank X. Shea, an inspiring individual who now, appropriately, has a special forest named for him. It was wonderful meeting some of the many players who have worked so hard on the F.X. Shea Town Forest projects already underway, including Val, Ginny, Dina, Frank (Zeus!), Rik, Suzanne, Laura, Wendy, and many others! We look forward to sharing this new chapter in the growing story of the land with you all.
This nine and a half minute video includes images of Upper Valley people & places, as well as the Upper Valley Land Trust President, Jeanie McIntyre reading the speech she gave at the organization’s 25th Annual Meeting on June 3, 2011 at the Dartmouth Organic Farm in Hanover, NH.
Approximately, 170 UVLT friends and supporters gathered on June 3rd at Dartmouth’s Organic Farm on Route 10 in Hanover to celebrate 25 years of Upper Valley land conservation work. Thank you to all of our attendees and Annual Meeting Auction participants. With your help, we were able to raise more than $14,000 to support UVLT’s work. Not only that, but we had some fun in the process! We look forward to seeing you again next year for UVLT’s 26th Annual Meeting & Celebration.
Below is a slide show composed of pictures taken by UVLT volunteers, Sam Merrens and Rowan Dunfey, that we hope you’ll enjoy.
We also had help from many generous volunteers, including afternoon activity leaders: John Moody & Donna Roberts Moody and Scott Stokoe, Dartmouth Organic Farm Manager.
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