Why I Support FLT

In the Fall of 1970 I stood on the Pocumtuck ridge with my parents overlooking the Deerfield valley. I was 11 years old and just starting my first year at Eaglebrook. My Mom and Dad loved walking and we really enjoyed that hike to “The Rock” back when the trail was just a single footpath.…

When our neighbor was approached by a realtor about developing a 12-acre parcel of open land into six building lots, she promptly sent him packing. She was worried, however, about how to make sure the land would be safe, and decided to entrust it to us, thinking we would keep it as a hay field…

Suzanne and I have run Stump Sprouts Cross Country Ski Area and Guest Lodge now for 35 years. The Franklin Land Trust has done a great deal to preserve the mix of wild beauty and working farmsteads that surround us here in Franklin County. We know that these assets are what bring guests back to…

We moved to western Massachusetts (back home for Lillian) because there is a scale and sense of community that is unique. The combination of small towns that have succeeded in retaining their character despite modernization, and a rural landscape complete with open spaces and working farms make this area ideal. We know that the FLT…

For forty years we have lived in, and loved, what we feel is a beautiful part of Conway. With each year we have enjoyed the passing of the seasons — the fresh new growth of spring, the lushness of summer, the color of fall, and the stark beauty of winter — and we have come…

My involvement with the Franklin Land Trust (FLT) goes back many years. From my perspective the land conservation successes of the Franklin Land Trust have created a domino effect, with more and more land owners beginning to explore conservation options. Many of these landowners earn their livelihoods from their land and realize that their working…

My interest in conservation of all natural resources began in my childhood in the outback of Australia, where my family saw all the natural vegetation of our sheep station destroyed by a combination of drought and overgrazing by sheep and cattle. By the time I was 10 years old, I saw how quickly land, water resources,…

I was born in the middle of World War II, when most people were one generation or less from farming or logging and tall American Elm trees formed a canopy over the main streets of most towns. The freedom to roam that I enjoyed as a child is quite rare now; I was seldom in…