President’s Message: 50th Earth Day Meets Global Pandemic

KLT’s President, Kim Vandermeulen, shared this message in our spring 2020 newsletter.

As the KLT community prepared earlier this year for the fiftieth anniversary of Earth Day, planning a celebration at the top of Howard Hill behind the capitol in Augusta, the SARS-CoV-2 virus was beginning its worldwide spread. By Earth Day the pandemic had caused the cancellation of all KLT community gatherings, with of course even more severe repercussions for humankind worldwide. Nonetheless, as I write the semi-annual president’s column, I will focus on both the accomplishments of the past fifty years and a few things we have learned during our COVID-19-imposed social distancing.

Fifty years ago the private land trust community was in its infancy. According to biological scientist Richard Brewer, writing in “Special Places” (the quarterly newsletter of the Trustees of Reservations, founded in 1891 in Massachusetts and the earliest still-existing land trust), there were fewer than fifty land trusts in the U.S. in the mid-twentieth century. By 1980 the number was 400; by 1990, 900; and by 2005, 1,667. Today, even after a series of mergers, the number stands at over 1,300. Conserved acres climbed to over 56,000,000 by 2015.

According to Brewer, the national land trust movement began in 1981 with the creation of the “Land Trust Exchange” for the purpose of encouraging cooperation and the exchange of information among land trusts across the country. The Exchange became the Land Trust Alliance in 1990, and the LTA continues to be the national organization supporting land trust activities. By 2015 the LTA reported that the land trust movement was supported by over 200,000 volunteers—members and volunteer stewards like you. Clearly much has happened since Earth Day 1970. Environmental improvements of equal magnitude have happened in water quality, air quality, control of hazardous substances, and many other important areas.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created incredible hardship across the planet. It reminds us that the Earth and all living things are fully interconnected. Humankind’s impact on the Earth is a paramount consideration in thinking about the future of the natural systems. Our work—the support of the land trust movement in the United States, more particularly Maine’s land trust activity, and even more concretely our own KLT—is one very important factor in the sustenance of the ecosystem. As I walked with my wife, Linda Young, last week at the Baldwin Hill Conservation Burial Ground site, I was struck by the impactful work of KLT and the realization that my small part in it was only possible because of all the past and current work of dedicated members, volunteers, and staff. In its thirty-plus years of work, KLT has attracted the expertise and respect of many community members, thus enabling us to advance important conservation endeavors.

During our social distancing, we have been reminded in stark terms of the absolute importance of a community’s access to shared, conserved areas of natural beauty. Joining together to care for and enjoy the forests of Maine soothes the soul. Please continue to support and enjoy the lands conserved by the donors, members, staff, and community of KLT. We can’t do it without you!