Monitoring Season: A Team Lift

Every fall we gather our team of volunteer property stewards and send them out to visit every conserved property – 51 easements and 18 preserves. We meet with landowners and tour the properties to confirm the conservation values. This year stewardship staff Irene Flynn and Luke Thombs brought 21 new monitors into the fold, doubling our volunteer force!

All monitors were offered training to better understand their role as well as learn about which invasive plants to look for during their site visit. Staff joined new monitors on their inaugural visit to help them get to know the landowners and property boundaries.

As an accredited land trust, it is our obligation to inspect all properties annually. For our volunteers, these visits are an opportunity to connect with landowners and get to see the nooks and crannies of private conservation easements the public does not get to explore. Locating survey pins is a scavenger hunt and properties may have treasures to discover. This year’s treasures included American Chestnut seeds donated by a landowner to a local elementary school program, snorting buck viewing, and some yummy apples.

We need more property monitors every year, so if this sounds like your sort of gig please reach out to Irene by email or call 594-5166.