Nomination Statement for Brendan Annett

The land conservation our collective organizations perform is a critical component of sustainable approaches to address a variety of the most pressing challenges that we face locally, regionally and at a larger scale, including public health, equitable economic development, climate change resilience and more.  Implementation of thoughtful land conservation at the scale and pace necessary to affect these issues needs strong and lasting private land trusts and conservation organizations to work at local, state and national levels.  The strength and permanence of our varied organizations is constantly challenged by forces around us and requires our community of organizations to work together in ways such as exemplified by the development and operation of Terrafirma.  I anticipate that the defense of our collective conservation work supported by Terrafirma will become more important with time and more and more of our organizations will broadly and directly benefit.  My willingness to accept nomination for election to the Members Committee comes directly from my interest in expanding the understanding of Terrafirma and how it works, among its members and potential new members.  I am committed to working to help direct Terrafirma to grow and develop to best address the needs of the wide ranging types and sizes of member organizations and the wide ranging types of conservation projects we are all accomplishing.

My background, organization and our work (https://www.savebuzzardsbay.org/current-issues/land-conservation/) are representative of the greater region, positioning me to well represent your organization, its work and the diversity of organizations and the diversity of conservation work throughout this region.  My practice of conservation falls in the middle and covers a wide range.  The organization and programs I direct operate in a diversity of settings from urban and suburban communities to rural agricultural and forested communities to intensely visited seasonal resort areas to nearly wild settings.  I am directly involved in managing conservation projects for a variety of purposes including open space, water resource protection, agricultural preservation, forest management, fish/wildlife/habitat protection, public access for outdoor recreation and climate change adaptation.  Our projects range from less than an acre in size to hundreds of acres and from donations and acquisitions of several thousand dollars to millions of dollars.  These include easements on private property, large partnerships to expand protected public lands and all that fits between.  The organization I represent is “mid-sized”, covering a couple dozen towns in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, but the success of our work has been due to partnership with other organizations, including the vital small local land trusts.  Our strategic approach and much of our work includes helping the variety of conservation organizations operating in our region to do more and to be more effective.  My experience supporting organizations, both small and large, to improve their capacity gives me a unique perspective on the challenges and needs facing a range of organizations working at different levels to advance conservation projects for a variety of purposes.  My knowledge, experience and approach have prepared me to represent the variety of member organizations working in our region.