Northshore magazine showcases the best that the North Shore of Boston, MA has to offer.
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KATE BOWDITCH NORTHSHOREMAG.COM 128 MAY 2019 PHOTOGRAPH BY DOUG LEVY HOW DID YOU GET INTO LAND CONSERVATION? I was a city kid who was lucky enough to spend my summers on the coast of Maine. My love of the outdoors, especially wild places, woods and shorelines, really grew out of that time in my life. I came to land conservation through my work at Charles River Watershed Association, where I learned first hand the tremendous value and importance of open, undeveloped land. A lot of my work on the Charles was focused on trying to repair land from the damage urbanization caused, so it was almost a natural progression to move into work where the focus is on conserving land from the outset. WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO GREENBELT? Good fortune! I wasn't planning a move but when the opportunity arose last year, and I began to learn more about the organization, its mission, and this region—it felt like a natural fit. The chance to work here, with the great staff, Board, volunteers and community and do work that's really important, is a real privilege and I'm delighted to be here. WHAT ARE YOU MOST PROUD OF IN YOUR WORK? Greenbelt is a hugely effective and successful organization, with a history of accomplishments, so it's fair to say that I'm proud to have been able to step in as the new president and keep things moving forward without too many hiccups! It's a wonderful feeling to be able to invite someone on a walk on a Greenbelt property and have them simply bowled over by the trails, the views, the stone walls and woods. And I love driving past the Greenbelt signs all over the area—I'm certainly proud to be part of the tradition of saving those places forever and knowing that our future will be better as a result. HOW CAN WE EDUCATE THE COMMUNITY ON PRESERVING OPEN SPACES? I'm a real believer in experiential learning, and I think people who have good experiences in open space will help protect it. Greenbelt hosts events all year long, all over Essex County, that are focused on nature. Some of these are formal education programs, with naturalists and trained educators; some are more informal walks designed to give people experiences being in a beautiful, natural place. Getting people outside is part of Greenbelt's basic mission. We also partner with many other community based organizations, cities and towns, and volunteer groups to promote open space protection and support their local land conservation efforts. One interesting program many communities are participating in is the Municipal Vulnerability Preparedness Program, which has helped people appreciate the value of protecting open space for climate resilience. WHAT IS YOUR GREATEST CHALLENGE? Land Trusts protect land forever, so we work with a very long time horizon. The land we protect and care for through our stewardship programs, and the communities those properties are in, will change over time as the climate changes. Planning for that is really challenging. But we have a lot of great partners in the land trust community, the research community, in state and local governments, and across the environmental sector. We're all working on these challenges together, so it creates some terrific opportunities for us. Another huge challenge is farmland protection. Our local farms are disappearing fast as development pressures keep growing and land values skyrocket. Finding creative ways to protect Essex County's farms and keep farmers on the land is one of Greenbelt's highest priorities. MAY 2019 C O M M U N I T Y Q & A GETTING TO KNOW THE NORTH SHORE President of Greenbelt, Essex County's Land Trust