By Mary Anne Guitar, April 2016
Last year we celebrated fifty years of a great idea and concentrated on the Redding Land Trust’s history. This year we’re honoring our partners in land preservation.
The Land Trust was conceived by Sam Hill, first chairman of the Conservation Commission, to be a private arm of Redding’s effort to save the natural and rural landscape of the town. He left an easement to the trust on his own 288 acres of farm, forest and meadowland so that we could preserve the property as open space forever. Today, his son Bill Hill farms it and you’ll hear from him later.
Last year we completed the arduous task of applying for re-accreditation by the land trust alliance. Thanks to trustee Kevin Tschudi we made the deadlines and await word from alliance if we’re good for another five years.
Last year had its rewards — the town’s annual report was dedicated to the trust with a cover paying tribute to the natural world we are dedicated to saving.
We were gratified by the continued support of our dependable donors. Our very first property donor, Rosamund Mikklesen, died this year at the age of 104. Roz still made a contribution in 2015 as she had for 50 years.
Our program about partnerships actually began with the partnership between Chief Warrups and John Read, which you will find commemorated at the entrance to town hall. The Chief sold to Read lands we are probably sitting on right now.
Over the years, the Land Trust has partnered with other conservation groups, the town of Redding and other towns to secure critical pieces of open space. Sam Hill acknowledged our success by saying “When I came up with the idea of a private Redding Land Trust I had no idea of how successful it would be.”
