Aspetuck Land Trust Elects Board Members from Easton, Fairfield, Weston, Westport
Members of the Aspetuck Land Trust voted to elect five board members representing Easton, Fairfield, Weston, and Westport to new terms on the board of directors of the 46 year old organization.
Elected to four year terms were Letitia Carter of Easton, Peter Oldershaw of Fairfield, Lisa Brodlie of Weston, Melissa Newman of Westport, and Aili diBonaventura of Fairfield.
At the meeting held on June 20 at the Pequot Library, Easton resident Princie Falkenhagen, president of the group, reviewed major events of the last 12 months including the acquisition and opening of the new 34 acre Randall’s Farm Nature Preserve in Easton, recently donated to the Land Trust by Mrs. Henry B. DuPont, III of Fairfield. She also said good progress was being made on the Trout Brook Valley Land Management Study undertaken in partnership with scientific staff at Connecticut Audubon Society. Findings and preliminary recommendations of the year-long study which will conclude in November will help guide future policy and trail development at the popular nature preserve.
David Brant, executive director of Aspetuck Land Trust, said more than 10,000 people visit the popular 1,009 acre Trout Brook Valley Preserve spanning Weston and Easton each year, and highlighted Trout Brook’s importance as a popular destination for local hikers as well as its unique conservation value for flora and fauna habitat. He spoke of a variety of educational hikes open to the public and planned for the near future including a wildflower hike on Saturday, July 7 at the Stonebridge Waterfowl Preserve in Weston and a butterfly hike at Randall’s Farm Preserve in Easton. For more information visit www.aspetucklandtrust.
Bill Labich, regional conservationist with the Highstead Arboretum and Harvard Forest in Massachusetts, was guest speaker at the annual meeting. He spoke of the “Wildlands and Woodlands Vision,” a long-term regional conservation effort focused on retaining 70 percent of the New England region as forestland and free from development.
The Aspetuck Land Trust is a local non-profit land conservation organization founded in 1966 to preserve open space in the towns of Westport, Weston, Fairfield and Easton. To learn more about the Aspetuck Land Trust or to become a member visit www.aspetucklandtrust.