Nomination Statement for New England Region Candidate
Becky Thornton

I’m very excited to be nominated for the Members Committee of Terrafirma. I strongly believe in its mission to protect the permanence of land conservation through legal defense of violations or challenges.  Having been in the conservation business for over 28 years, I’ve seen firsthand how challenging legal defense is. I feel strongly that we need to band together to uphold our perpetual responsibility to oversee and enforce our conservation easements and preserves, and collectively create solid case law that helps strengthen our future defense opportunities.  I enthusiastically encouraged DLC, as the holder of over 370 easements, to be one of the first 30 land trusts to join Terrafirma during its initial establishment in 2009, not only to help our own cause, but also to support the ability of land trusts everywhere to stand up for the great work they’ve accomplished.  I’ve been a strong advocate of the program having dealt with a broad range of violations and legal challenges to some of DLC’s many easements, through negotiation and litigation. I’ve also witnessed how defending your easements against violations can garner great respect for your organization and maintain public confidence in your programs and your promise to uphold your easements.

If elected, I would be very proud to represent the New England Region. I grew up in Connecticut, with family from New Hampshire to New York, and am very familiar with land trusts throughout this area. Through the LTANY Advisory Board and my own affiliations, I’ve worked closely with many land trusts in New York and Connecticut. My strong belief in the program helps me to be a good ambassador positively promoting it to others.  As DLC’s CEO and a former business owner, I have experience in organizational management and operations, strategy, policy, budgeting, conflicts of interest, audits, financial statements, investment performance, risk management and working with contractors, consultants and attorneys.  Having just stepped down as Chairman of the LTANY Advisory Board, I am excited about the opportunity to serve in a leadership capacity representing land trusts throughout the region. I have a proven ability to work with a wide variety of people and organizations, and I’ve always prided myself on being friendly, open, patient, well organized, detail oriented, diplomatic, a good listener, collaborator and team player, with strong moral and ethical values. But maybe most importantly, I have a deep and genuine passion for permanent land conservation.