At annual meeting, Kent Land Trust celebrates 20 years

KENT — Twenty years of land conservation and preservation were celebrated on Friday, Dec. 4, at Town Hall as the Kent Land Trust held its annual meeting. The meeting celebrated the trust’s successes in preserving the town’s open spaces and rural character; and it celebrated the work of President Tony Zunino.

Zunino, one of the founders of the trust, announced at the meeting that he will step down as president. He has served for 10 years.

“Harmon Smith [the previous president] served for 10 years prior to me, so I think 10 years is a good amount of time,� Zunino said. “I honestly can’t think of just one good achievement in the years I served as president. I’m proud of the trust and all of its accomplishments in keeping the town rural.�

Trust members honored Zunino with the first Harmon Smith Award. The meeting was attended by more than 140 Land Trust members and had a festive atmosphere.

State Sen. Andrew Roraback (R-30) was the guest speaker. He praised the work of the trust.

“When you can’t get a parking spot at an annual meeting of an organization, you know you have something very successful,� Roraback said. “A special community lies at the heart of the trust.�

The guests reminisced about how the organization began, and how it has grown.

“At the first meeting, [Smith] got 15 of us together to outline the mission and need for the trust,� Zunino recalled. “Since that time, we have had over 2,500 members, and many of them have made valuable contributions to keeping Kent rural.�

Since the Land Trust was founded in 1989, it has helped to protect and conserve more than 1,600 acres in town, including environmentally sensitive parcels on Kent Hollow, Skiff Mountain and in the Southern Gateway.

This fall, after several years of hard work, the Kent Land Trust, the Sharon Land Trust, the Appalachian Mountain Club and the federal Highlands Coalition worked with the Trust for Public Land to obtain a conservation easement on 705 acres on Skiff Mountain.

Bill Arnold, treasurer for the Land Trust, said that the heart and soul of the land trust is to acquire properties around town, and to protect and preserve them.

“Kent has a beautiful rural environment, but if we want it to stay that way, it’s important to acquire properties so future generations can enjoy the same things that we have,� he said.

The Land Trust is now working on a conservation easement and three land acquisitions that, within the next six months, could protect from 60 to 100 more acres, he said.  He couldn’t give details on the parcels, because negotiations are ongoing.

Connie Manes, executive director for the trust, told the audience that it is not enough to just acquire properties for conservation.

“We have to take care of them once we have them underneath our umbrella,� she said as she thanked the volunteers who maintain the trust’s lands. “I think that if we can engage in our community in caring for the land and enjoying the outdoors, then our motto of ‘rural forever’ will not be a pie in the sky dream.�