When I started in my job as New England Director for American Farmland Trust three years ago, everyone I spoke to advised me to get to know two people. These two, I was told, were the deans of farmland protection in Massachusetts; the ones who knew more and did more to protect farmland that perhaps any other two people in the Commonwealth. Not surprising for those who know them, the two were Rich Hubbard, then director of the Massachusetts Agricultural Preservation Restriction (APR) program, and Mark Zenick, then director of the Franklin Land Trust. 

I now am privileged to consider both Rich and Mark as close colleagues and good friends. And, while it is the land in our small, wonderful part of the world that sustains me – its fertile bottomland and rocky pastures, its well-kept woodlots and wild forests – Mark and Rich are the reason I support the Franklin Land Trust.

In the last three years, I’ve seen firsthand what a land trust that cares about both the land and the people who make their living from it can accomplish. I’ve learned how a land trust can and must think creatively and act quickly. I’ve seen a land trust that understands the business of farming and promotes the power of eating and buying locally. And I’ve watched in admiration, as a new member of the FLT board, as Mark and now Rich find ways to work with communities to help them achieve their land protection goals.

Last year, I prevailed on Mark to come give a presentation to the board of a newly- formed statewide land trust in Connecticut. He did, patiently and passionately explaining some of the innovative techniques that the Franklin Land Trust has used to protect land. After he had left, a board member remarked to me: “I feel like I’ve learned from the master.” As a member of the FLT board, I am often reminded of how fortunate we are to have staff of Mark and Rich’s caliber leading our land protection efforts here in Franklin County.

Cris Coffin, New England Director
American Farmland Trust

Would you consider supporting the Franklin Land Trust?

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