Biodiversity

In wild forests, a cornucopia of species can be found. Old and young trees, standing dead trees (snags), and fallen trees and branches (woody debris) create a mixed canopy and understory. This complex forest structure supports a myriad of niche habitats often absent from young and managed forests. 

The sheer amount of life—and death—is the secret to biodiversity in wild forests. Up to 30% of the biomass found in an old forest is made up of snags and trees in various states of decay. Decomposing logs host an abundance of insects, fungi, and slime molds. In some forests, a third of bird species live in cavities of old trees. Wild forests have also been found to have a higher density and diversity of species in studies on salamanders and lichen.

Resilience

Vast, interconnected habitats offer the best hope for species to survive and adapt to climate change as weather events become more unpredictable and temperatures rise. 

In wild forests where soil is undisturbed, vast mycorrhizal networks help trees, especially older ones, “share” carbon with one another, even between different species.  These subterranean networks of fungi become more connected the older and less disturbed a forest is. They help forests react to and survive stresses such as drought or pests.  

In addition, complex habitats are resilient habitats. No matter the state of a forest when the Wilderness Trust first protects it, from that day forward, it will grow in age and complexity year after year, becoming more resilient as time goes on. 

Carbon Storage

Old forests store immense amounts of carbon. Across the Northeast Wilderness Trust's portfolio of 37,000+ forever-wild acres, there are approximately 3 million metric tons of potential carbon storage.

As a forest's age increases, so too does the amount of carbon it stores. It was once believed that old-growth forests were sources of carbon (giving off carbon into the atmosphere) but we now know that they are more often carbon sinks, continuing to absorb carbon even when they are centuries-old.

To avoid the worst effects of a changing climate, we must implement "Natural Climate Solutions." Legally protecting forests as forever-wild—sometimes called proforestation—is among the most cost-effective and efficient tools to combat climate change.

Reciprocity

Connecting with wild places, with awe and respect, is a deeply human act. Since the beginning of time, human cultures all across the globe have revered and honored wild places, often designating beautiful or unique natural places as spiritual, religious, or cultural sites.

At the Wilderness Trust, we believe that respectfully communing with nature is essential to saving it. When people witness and experience the delightful kaleidoscope of life forms we share this planet with, we are moved to protect them. While it's easy to get bogged down by the grief of environmental destruction, we remember and celebrate that every protected landscape is here because many people spent years working to make sure that land was not developed.

The Wilderness Trust is dedicated to fostering and promoting careful and responsible experiences of wild places, to allow more people to grow a reciprocal relationship with nature.

Jon Leibowitz

Jon has worked in the private land conservation field since graduating from Vermont Law School in 2011 with a Juris Doctor and Masters in Environmental Law and Policy. Before joining Northeast Wilderness Trust, Jon was the Executive Director of Montezuma Land Conservancy, on the edge of the Colorado Plateau, in Cortez, Colorado. Jon serves on the Rewilding Leadership Council, the Steering Committee of Wildlands & Woodlands, the Board of Vermont Parks Forever and is a co-owner of WildEdge Brewing Collective. He lives on the outskirts of Montpelier, Vermont, where he enjoys gardening, wandering the woods behind his house, and maintaining a questionable obsession with house plants.

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Cathleen Maine

Cathleen joined Northeast Wilderness Trust in 2015 with two decades of nonprofit experience. She received her BA from Hawaii Loa College, now part of the Hawaii Pacific University system, and attended the School for International Training’s Master’s Program in Intercultural Management. She worked for almost a decade in Washington, DC on women’s health issues before relocating to Vermont with her family. Prior to that she spent seven years studying and teaching in Hokkaido, Japan. Her experience with public health has connected her to the mission of the Wilderness Trust. In her free time she enjoys living in Montpelier, reading, exploring, and cooking with her family.

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Sophi Veltrop

Sophi comes to Northeast Wilderness Trust with a background in land conservation, communications, and outdoor and environmental education. She received her B.S. in Environmental Science from Washington University in St. Louis in 2013. Since then, she has worked at Vermont Land Trust, Yestermorrow Design/Build School, and Earthwalk Vermont. Sophi is committed to helping create a world where all species have the chance to survive, thrive, and evolve. Outside of work, she can be found roaming forests and rivers with her puppy, tending an ever-expanding garden, and cultivating community and creative practice.

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Sophie Ehrhardt

Sophie coordinates the Wildlands Partnership program of Northeast Wilderness Trust, while pursuing a Master’s Degree in Environmental Law and Policy at Vermont Law School. Her desire to be involved with environmental policy at a local level and to spend as much time as possible outdoors led her to work with conservation land trusts. Her passions for wilderness and wildlife, combined with a desire to play a role addressing the challenges of climate change, made Northeast Wilderness Trust a natural fit. Sophie has a Bachelor’s degree in Classics from St. John’s College and a prior career as an educator. In her free time Sophie enjoys paddling, walking among trees, and spying on birds. Indoors, she is obsessed with food, strategy games, and family.

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Joe Falconeiri

After receiving a BS in Education from Montana State University and then spending 15 years in finance in Boston, Joe decided to trade in his suit and tie for his true passion, conservation and natural science. Since then he has served as a Ranger and Naturalist Interpreter with Waquoit Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve while also supporting the Southeastern Massachusetts Pine Barrens Alliance. He continues to pursue his mission to help people, institutions, and organizations become more keenly aware and connected to the social, economic, and environmental values that wilderness and open space bring into their lives.

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Shelby Perry

Shelby joined the Wilderness Trust in 2016 with a B.Sc. in Environmental Engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, a M.Sc. in Plant Biology – Field Naturalist from the University of Vermont, and a deep love and respect for wild places.  She had previously spent two years documenting and advocating for wilderness in Wyoming’s Red Desert, and served terms in both AmeriCorps and the US Peace Corps, caring for conserved lands in the High Sierra in California and as a water sanitation engineer in West Africa, respectively.  When she’s not protecting and defending wilderness, Shelby enjoys exploring it either on foot or through photography, science, and artwork. 

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Mark Anderson

Mark is Director of Conservation Science for The Nature Conservancy’s eastern U.S. region. Mark provides science leadership, ecological analysis, and landscape assessment tools for conservation efforts across across twenty-two states. His current research interests include ecological resilience, disturbance processes, geophysical landscape properties, and seafloor mapping. Mark lives with his family, two goats, three cats, one dog, occasional chickens, a visiting pair of barred owls, and a lot of trees in coastal MA.

President

Massachusetts

Susie O'Keeffe

Susie lives in Montville, Maine. She holds Master’s of Science with distinction in Environmental Management from Oxford University, England. She serves as a Research Associate and Visting Faculty at the College of the Atlantic. Her writing has appeared in Spring: A Journal of Archetype and Culture, the Maine Review, Naropa University’s Phylogeny, and the Spoon River Poetry Review. Susie lives in Maine.

Vice President

Maine

Jim Dehner

Jim is the Executive Director for the Indiana Land Protection Alliance, serving the land trusts of Indiana. He has been in the land trust field for 30 years working for organizations including the Trustees of Reservations, the Wildlands Trust of Southeastern Massachusetts, the Northeast Wilderness Trust, and was the Founding Board President for the Ashburnham Conservation Trust. He has taught graduate level courses in nonprofit management, and is currently completing his doctorate at Northeastern University. He holds BS and MS degrees in environmental science, and an MS in nonprofit management. Jim and his wife Vickie are avid hikers and walkers, have two sons, and residences in both Indiana and Massachusetts.

Treasurer

Massachusetts

Kristin DeBoer

Kristin is the Executive Director of Kestrel Land Trust, which is dedicated to conserving, caring for, and connecting people to the wildlands, woodlands, and farmland of the Connecticut River Valley in western Massachusetts. Kristin has a BA in economics and environmental science from Bucknell University and an MS in Environmental Studies from Antioch University, and has worked in the environmental field for more than 25 years. Kristin lives with her family in Massachusetts.

Massachusetts

Brett Engstrom

Brett is a consulting ecologist and botanist specializing in the inventory and mapping of wetland and upland natural communities, and the inventory of rare, threatened and endangered plants, in Vermont, New Hampshire, New York, and Maine.  He has worked on many inventory projects in northern New England, especially Vermont and New Hampshire focused on inventorying a wide variety of natural communities, and rare, threatened, and endangered plants for a variety of clients. He also teaches workshops on natural communities and plant identification and was part-time faculty at Lyndon State College for ten years. Brett lives with his family in Vermont.

Vermont

Carol Fox

Carol is General Manager, Global Accounting Firms, at Thomson Reuters in New York. She received a BA in Political Science from Yale University and an MBA from the Darden School at the University of Virginia.  She is also a certified Master Composter. Carol spends much of her free time in the Adirondacks with her partner Phil Brown.

New York

Daniel Hildreth

Daniel is board chair of Diversified Communications, a family-owned trade media company based in Portland. Diversified produces trade shows and conferences for a variety of industries in North America, Europe, and Australia. Daniel currently serves on the board of Acadia Center, a clean energy policy and advocacy nonprofit, and on the Maine advisory board of the Conservation Law Foundation. In the past, he has also served on the board of Maine Audubon. He and his wife live in Falmouth, Maine.

Maine

Rick Rancourt

Rick is a CPA and he currently works as the controller of a fast growing tech company in Vermont.  Previously he worked for a large public accounting firm performing financial statement audits and other financial reporting services for various organizations.  Rick is a wilderness enthusiast who currently lives in Stowe, Vermont with his wife and son. 

Vermont

Henry Tepper

Henry is a conservation consultant and an instructor in the Masters Program in Sustainability at the Harvard University Extension School. He has a background in land conservation and has played a direct role in the protection of almost one million acres around the world. Henry’s past work experience includes fourteen years at The Nature Conservancy, first as the Director of the New Hampshire Program and then as the Director of the New York State Program. Henry serves on the Board of Directors of Tierra Austral Land Trust in Chile. Henry holds a B.A. from the University of Michigan and an M.A. and Admission to Doctoral Candidacy from Cornell University. He lives with his family in Lincoln, Massachusetts.

Massachusetts

Annie Faulkner

Board Emeritus

New Hampshire

Annie is a founding board member of the Northeast Wilderness Trust, and served as President, Secretary and Treasurer during her 15-year tenure on the Board of Directors. She is a landowner with conserved properties in New Hampshire and Maine. Annie has worked as an environmental activist and writer, community organizer, and reproductive health researcher, educator and counselor. Annie likes to hike, ski, and camp in remote and/or high elevation terrain. She lives with her husband, Bob King, their two amazing teenagers, and two pets in a nicely converted woodshed in Keene, New Hampshire. 

Merloyd Ludington

Board Emeritus

Massachusetts

In 2001, Merloyd Ludington joined a small, dedicated group of wilderness advocates in Boston to sound the bell for increased wilderness conservation in the Northeast. The group unanimously agreed that there was a strong need for a new land trust to fill this niche, and a year later the Northeast Wilderness Trust was born.

Merloyd served on the board of the Wilderness Trust for 15 years. She led the organization with her deep knowledge of the field, thoughtful insight, tenacious line of inquiry, and strong wilderness ethic for which we are deeply grateful.