Northeast Wilderness Trust Names New Vice President of Conservation Programs

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Northeast Wilderness Trust has named Caitlin Mather to the role of Vice President of Conservation Programs, effective January 2, 2026. Mather was previously Land Protection Manager and, most recently, Land Conservation Director at the organization. She joins an executive team of Jon Leibowitz, President and CEO; Nicie Panetta, Vice President of Advancement; and Cathleen Maine, Vice President of Operations.

Mather’s new role is a critical one. The Vice President of Conservation Programs oversees nine staff members across Northeast Wilderness Trust’s Land Conservation, Stewardship, and Wildlands Ecology programs. Together with her colleagues on the executive team and the board of directors, Mather will help steer the organization’s land acquisitions, stewardship best practices, and ecology initiatives as it pursues its Strategic Plan goal of protecting 160,000 forever-wild acres by 2030.

“It has been such a pleasure working with Caitlin these past three years since she joined Northeast Wilderness Trust, and I’m excited for her to join our executive team,” said Leibowitz. “Caitlin is deeply committed to wilderness protection and has the vision and ambition to help realize a rewilded Northeast. Our collective future looks wilder with her at the helm of our Conservation Programs.”

Mather’s previous experience makes her an excellent fit for the position. She previously managed legal transactions for land protection and stewardship projects at Vermont Land Trust. Among her favorites were those focused on river corridor preservation, which, together with her earlier experience hiking the entirety of the Appalachian Trail, sparked her interest in wilderness conservation.

“I realized that we, as a society, are at an inflection point in our history and our relationship with wild places,” said Mather. “I was drawn to Northeast Wilderness Trust’s singular mission to protect more of them.”

Mather has done just that during her tenure at Northeast Wilderness Trust. When she joined in 2022 as Land Protection Manager, the organization protected approximately 60,000 acres. Today, it protects more than 103,000. Mather, who worked for two years under conservation veteran and former Vice President of Conservation Programs Bob Linck until his retirement in 2025, has fueled that acceleration by supporting or leading 45 wilderness transactions.

Of these transactions, two stand out for Mather. She highlighted Birch Stream Wilderness Preserve, a 3,400-acre property in central Maine finalized in 2024, as one of her favorite undertakings in her previous Northeast Wilderness Trust roles.

“Birch Stream is a special place. There were many memorable moments spent with colleagues on site visits to the future Preserve, most notably exploring peat bogs and crossing 12 beaver dams by canoe to access the property’s interior.” Mather said. “Now, I’m proud to say, it’s all forever-wild.”

The other standout is the future Magalloway Wilderness Preserve. The 11,200-acre western Maine property, which is in the process of being protected, is part of a larger 78,000-acre collaboration with Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust, The Nature Conservancy, and Forest Society of Maine. Magalloway will be Northeast Wilderness Trust’s largest acquisition to date, and, to Mather, “epitomizes the organization’s forward-looking vision. The project is a big part of what attracted me to a leadership role.”

Internal and external partnerships have been central to Mather’s time and impact at Northeast Wilderness Trust. In addition to cultivating supportive relationships with colleagues in Montpelier, Mather has expanded the Wildlands Partnership, a pioneering grant program that gives local land trusts the necessary financial and technical resources to set aside more of their holdings as forever-wild. Mather has coordinated two of the three successful Partnership application phases to date. Grants awarded during those phases amount to $2.48 million, supporting 25 projects encompassing 14,800 forever-wild acres across the Northeast. An additional 3,500 acres are slated to close in the next year.

When asked to reflect on her new role and this hard-earned step in her career, Mather directed the focus back to her colleagues—and pointed to the future.

“When I joined Northeast Wilderness Trust, there were eight of us. Now there are 23,” she said. “I have been fortunate to grow alongside my wonderful colleagues and the organization, and I’m most excited to contribute to the visionary thinking that has propelled our team to this pivotal point. Between the Land Conservation, Stewardship, and Wildlands Ecology programs, we have positioned ourselves well to cement Northeast Wilderness Trust as a national leader in wilderness conservation.”

Northeast Wilderness Trust board member Brett Engstrom echoed Leibowitz in applauding Mather’s promotion.

“Caitlin has been an absolute gem to work with over the last three years through my role as chair of the Land and Stewardship Committee,” said Engstrom. “I’m confident that this new chapter of her career will serve Northeast Wilderness Trust extremely well in its mission to rewild the region.”

Photography: Jerry Monkman and Ryan Smith.

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