CLCC is delighted to announce the 2022 Excellence in Conservation Award honorees. In making these awards, CLCC seeks to recognize organizations and individuals who have made a substantive contribution to the ongoing success of land conservation and projects that may serve as a guide to or be replicable by other land trusts and communities in Connecticut.

Whip-Poor-Will Woods (WPWW) is a public-private partnership conservation effort involving seven landowners working collaboratively with federal and state agencies to permanently protect 1,553 acres of forestland in Stafford, CT. Funded through the CT Forest Legacy Program (FLP), which is administered by DEEP, the project involved piecing together multiple properties in order to be competitive for FLP at the national level. Among a long list of community and regional benefits, the WPWW provides valuable and diverse habitat for a multitude of federal and state listed species. It is critical to protecting a public water supply, and directly abuts 12,960 acres of protected forestland, as part of a larger focus area of 135,000 conservation acres in CT and MA.

The East Granby Land Trust has had 25 high school interns serving on the land trust board of directors over the last 10 years. Each student intern commits to two years of learning, observing, and participating in various program activities. The land trust has had students who are interested in photography, education, environmental science, law, and business. Using their many talents, interns have contributed to upcycling projects, environmental education programs, and serving as co-treasurers and stewardship chairs. While they each bring diverse interests, the interns all have one thing in common: They care about the environment, their community, and the protection of open space.

Shelley has been an invaluable member of the Salisbury Association Land Trust (SALT) and the Cornwall Conservation Trust (CCT), including serving as Executive Director for both organizations. Shelley’s passion for land conservation helped the CCT and SALT each secure over two million dollars in grant funding to assist in the acquisition of close to 1000 acres of forest and farmland in the region. To further enhance the protection of land trust properties, Shelley skillfully advocated and supported CCT and SALT in enrolling hundreds of acres in the Wildlands Partnership of the Northeast Wilderness Trust. Shelley successfully guided both land trusts (and many others) through the rigorous Land Trust Accreditation process, ensuring the organizations operate with professional policies, standards and efficiency.