Franklin Land Trust Welcomes New Executive Director

The Franklin Land Trust’s (FLT) Board of Directors and staff welcome their new Executive Director, Thomas S. Curren, to the organization.
Tom succeeds Richard Hubbard, who has served as FLT’s executive director since 2004, and during whose tenure the Trust reached the 32,000-acre mark
in conserving farms, forests, wildlands, and other natural resources in western Massachusetts.

Tom brings more than forty years of non-profit management and leadership experience in support of the mission at FLT. He served as vice president of marketing
and development at the Crotched Mountain Foundation, executive director and president of the Lakes Region Conservation Trust, and as director of the
Pew Charitable Trust’s Northeast Land Trust Consortium, where he worked with landowners, donors, and volunteers to preserve more than 800,000 acres
of conservation land in New England, New York, and in the Amish farmlands of Pennsylvania.

In addition to his conservation work, Tom has been the owner and operator of an independent dairy farm; he and his wife, Kathy Neustadt, live on 108 acres
with their Hereford cattle, Romney sheep, and a flock of New Hampshire Red hens. He has been a local selectman, town moderator, and town historian,
has served as a trustee of the Crotched Mountain Foundation, presently serves on the board of Old Sturbridge Village and chairs the board of Folk New
England, a traditional music archive housed at the University of Massachusetts Library at Amherst. 

“The Pioneer Valley has always been a hearth away from home for me,” says Tom. “As a boy, growing up in rapidly-developing Melrose, the river and hill
towns along the Mohawk Trail were proof to me that there was life before, and possibly even after suburbia. I have long admired the work of the staff
at FLT, and I’m excited at the prospect of joining with them and with the citizens of the region to continue protecting and preserving the land and
the heritage that we love.”

“The board and staff of the Franklin Land Trust is excited to welcome Tom Curren as our new executive director beginning May 1. Tom was the board’s and
staff’s unanimous choice for executive director amongst a large number of qualified applicants.” states Paul Cooper, FLT’s Board President. “He is
truly a man for all seasons: as a dairy farmer, as a leader in conservation at the staff and grantor levels, and, most recently, as a consultant with
Historic Deerfield, he has long devoted his energy to citizen-based conservation at all levels. Tom is experienced, creative, charming and gregarious.
We look forward to introducing him to the larger community.”