Every day, I wake up feeling thankful for my new role with the North County Land Trust! I love being part of an organization that makes a real, visible difference for the things I care about, like mitigating climate impacts, sequestering carbon, reducing habitat fragmentation, and opening up trails close to where people live. I have loved getting to know the great staff who have the passion and expertise to fuel an impressive range of activities, from Owl Prowls and Mindfulness Walks to our completely full Winter Solstice Lantern Walk. I have also had a chance to meet and talk to volunteers. As expected, they are the sort of people who love the work of the land trust so much that they spend their free time clearing trails, participating in meetings, and reviewing documents—even spreadsheets. When I tell people that I work for the North County Land Trust, the most common response is, “Oh, I love them!” The second most common response is, “What’s a land trust?”
I bring this up because, if you are reading this, then you are in the know. You know that local land trusts do the important work of protecting land for the future—for climate and ecological services that we all need, and for the joyful experiences we get from walking trails that are close to home—trails we can visit before these early winter sunsets. What about the people in your life? Do they know that they, too, can be part of addressing climate change right in their backyard? Have you told them that it’s people just like you who give time, expertise, and financial contributions to support the protection of forests and wetlands and the building of beautiful trails so people can take a break from life to listen to owls or just marvel at the amazing range of mushrooms that grow in north central Massachusetts?
I encourage you to find out! Share our posts and newsletters. Encourage your friends to get to know North County or whatever their local land trust is. Land trusts thrive on community engagement. Tell your friends they are bound to run into great people who care about the future of our planet and who love to be outdoors—people just like you!
Hope to see you out there!