New Team at Land Trust Expands Outreach

The hiring of several top staffers at the hasn't changed its core mission of land preservation but brought new energy and ideas about outreach to the community and local landowners, says its executive director, Candace Schaefer.

"I’m thrilled to be working with this great staff—I'm new, too, and this team brings wonderful skills to the table along with great passion for what they do," she said. "What WLT does and has done is really impressive, and it's a vital part of what keeps Westchester a great place to live."

The team includes David Emerson, stewardship director, and Schaefer, both hired in 2010; Hannah Stein, who started as development director in 2011 and Kara Hartigan Whelan, who this year was brought on as director of conservation programs, a new role for the land trust. 

What they want to keep doing is preserving land, which they say has become more difficult in a sluggish economy.

"Our mission to preserve land hasn't changed," said Schaefer. "What has changed is the financial climate—we're no longer receiving state, federal or municipal dollars. And what it means for us is that we have to work even harder and think differently. We may have to rely on private sources and adjust our project scope," she said.

Since its inception 24 years ago, the WLT has protected over 7,500 acres in the county and brokered 184 conservation easements. When asked if their goals had changed in light of a changed financial landscape, Schaefer said their aim was to preserve 10 percent more land each year. 

Recent land preservation projects include a new open space buy that leveraged over $3.6 million in private donations to in Bedford; the WLT also worked out a to protect 43 acres of their 60-acre property.

Emerson said that as the economy picked up, there would be more active land development threats and opportunities to protect land.

"But no one has a crystal ball to predict when that will happen," he said.

In the meantime, he's working more directly with land owners to educate them about their land and communicate the terms of easements to second—and some third—generation landowners. "We need to think about the land in perpetuity," he said, "so we are working on making sure people understand what they do on a day-to-day basis affects their land."

He added that the newer staff had the benefit of working with a seasoned board of trustees and Susan Carpenter, the land trust's preservation consultant, who brings a combined legal background and Yale degree in forestry and land management. Carpenter is also serving a two-year term as supervisor for the town of New Castle.

And in her newly created position, Whelan serves as the first point of contact for new preservation inquiries which are still rolling in.

"We have a lot in pipeline and it’s hard to say when they are going to close but we recognize what we do is about relationships, and forever protection—and we have to be patient and continue to be a good resource," she said.

Whelan is also working on increasing the WLT's outreach to try and engage the community toward becoming the next advocates of land preservation.

That means providing ways for young children to experience nature, being a resource to farmers who can't afford land and maintaining a hands-on volunteer program for individuals and corporations. 

Stein coordinates the active corporate outreach program. This Friday, Ernst & Young employees will prune and harvest food from the Sugar Hill Farm, the area of the WLT property that is planted and harvested to support the Food Bank of Westchester. She also spearheaded a new , designed to connect locals to nature meaningfully.

"Maybe it's going on a hike, or hearing a warbler for the first time—or being able to identify that sound," said Stein. "We hope to help people understand what's around them in Westchester and why this county is so special and why it's so important to protect it."

The WLT is looking for volunteers on an ongoing basis (the fourth Thursday of every month from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.) who will learn more about organic farming while helping to weed, plant, dig, water, and harvest at WLT's Sugar Hill Farm. For more information about volunteer opportunities at the Westchester Land Trust, visit their website.

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