By Reaching Back, Farmington Land Trust Looks Forward

At the Farmington Land Trust's annual meeting Thursday night, what was old was new again.

After searching for nearly a year for a new executive director, the trust hired an old friend and former vice president and steward chair, Tina Delaney.

The Farmington Land Trust holds and cares for nearly 300 acres of woods, fields and waterfront acreage in town for residents to enjoy. The land is cared for by about 350 town residents who walk and clear the trails and remove invasive species.

Many of those dedicated volunteers met Thursday night for the organization's annual meeting to review the successes of 2011 and gear up for the new year.

Count Delaney's hiring as a major success. She recently retired from the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) and is a member of Farmington's newly formed Conservation Inland Wetlands Commission.

Delaney also volunteers for DEEP as a master conservationist and for Connecticut Audubon as a master bird conservationist. She has lived in Farmington for 25 years, and her husband, Michael, is the trust's steward chairman.

Delaney said she’s delighted to be working with “an exciting, dynamic organization” that strives independently and with the town to preserve open space.

“The land is going to be here for the future. You’re going to know your grandchildren are going to be able to go out to see the view from the mountain 10 generations from now; that’s the gift of the land trust,” Delaney explained.

Most of the property in the land trust’s care was gifted by people who loved the land and wanted to see it remain the same for generations to come.

Working with the land trust (originally) gave her a sense of place, Delaney said. While children often explore every bend of a creek and know each rock and tree on the land where they play, adults often spend days locked into a car or behind a desk.

“I began to understand the town better by knowing all this wonderful open space. You don’t even know you’re missing it until you find it again,” Delaney said.

While nearly all of the Farmington Land Trust’s 270 acres are open to residents free of charge, the protected space is also invaluable to native wildlife, too.

“It becomes critical habitat to the box turtles, long-eared owls and other wildlife to just move through and rest," Delaney said. "After the recession subsides, the building will resume and these little corridors protected by the Farmington Land Trust will be so valuable.”

For those adults longing to get back in touch with the land they grew up on or become acquainted with the landscape of their new home, the land trust will begin offering “strolls on the land” beginning in May.

The strolls, to be held on the last Thursday of the month at 6 p.m. through September, will be a one-and-a-half-hour walk guided by a local expert on Farmington Land Trust property. The schedule is as follows:

• May 24: Milan Bull of the Connecticut Audubon Society at the Aqueduct Parcel off Route 10
• June 28: Bill Novoa on the Metacomet Trail
• July 26: Geocaching on the Carey Parcel with Doug Pelham
• Sept. 27: on the Cowles Trail

Also Thursday at the annual meeting, land trust members elected a new board of directors and welcomed a new president. Doug Pelham, who formerly served as vice president and treasurer, took over the land trust presidency from Angham Zakko.

“He does excellent work quietly and professionally,” Zakko said. “He’s a great leader and will be a wonderful president. I know he’s going to move the organization forward.”

Debbie Klene, who served as secretary, also took on the role of vice president and Bruce Fernandez took over as treasurer for the land trust.

For more information about the Farmington Land Trust and its properties, visit farmingtonlandtrust.org.