Members of the Harpswell Heritage Land Trust honored outgoing trustees, elected new ones, and learned about troubling episodes in the history of American conservation during the organization’s annual meeting on Tuesday, July 8.
In the open-air pavilion at Cranberry Mountain Events on Great Island, the Land Trust acknowledged the work of five trustees who had reached the end of their service. Cristine Bachor, Rachel Beane, Steve Caulfield, Deirdre Strachan, and Doug Warren were presented with gifts and applauded for their time on the board.
Board President Tim McCreight then conducted elections for board officers. Members reelected McCreight and Treasurer Ed Robinson, and chose Judy Wallingford as vice president and Lew Hinman as secretary. Wallingford replaces Beane as vice president, while Hinman succeeds Wallingford as secretary.
Five new trustees were elected: Nathan Ackerman, Charles Hancock, Lew Incze, Jason Leese, and Jane Warren.
After the elections, Executive Director Matt Newberg reminisced about growing up among nature in Harpswell, highlighting the importance of the Land Trust’s work.
“I consider myself beyond fortunate that so many of the places I ran free during my youth in Harpswell are now preserves. My children have been able to do the same,” Newberg said.
Newberg highlighted his colleagues on the staff, announced that the organization has begun its reaccreditation process with the Land Trust Alliance, and said interviews are underway for a new development and communications director. He said the Land Trust ended the 2024 budget year in a strong position and is considering new acquisitions and easements.
“When I arrived, it was clear to me that HHLT has been well run, well led and well stewarded,” said Newberg, who started work in December 2024. “The generous membership, qualified staff and dedicated board members have created a strong organization, and I’m excited to see it into the next chapter.”
Newberg then introduced a guest speaker, Matthew Klingle, the director of the Environmental Studies Program at Bowdoin College and an associate professor of history and environmental studies. Klingle delivered a lecture about the history of conservation.
“I do want to warn you that some of your conservation heroes, like mine, may not emerge unscathed,” Newberg said to the audience.
Klingle said the history of conservation is often troubling. He said historical figures who are touted as conservation heroes often held eugenicist, racist, classist, or anti-immigration views.
John Muir, called the father of the National Park Service, described the Indigenous people of the Sierra Nevada as “dirty and loathsome.” Klingle said the National Park Service evicted Indigenous people from their homes, yet shamelessly used them for promotion.
“Conservation has always been, at a certain level, something born of the Gilded Age — an era of incredible economic distinction between the haves and the have-nots,” Klingle said. “It is very much reflective of this idea of nobility, this idea of exclusion, this idea of privilege.”
Klingle used the flaws of conservation’s past to highlight how to improve conservation in the future. He explained how effective conservation stems from a deep understanding of one’s community and the diverse perspectives it holds.
“History gives us hope,” Klingle said. “If conservation is to have any possibility for the present and the future, we need to start thinking historically, and with that comes a lot of humility and also a lot of opportunity to listen and learn.”
