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Date: 2/22/2022
AMHERST – Kristin DeBoer, executive director of Kestrel Land Trust (KLT), likes to build community by conserving forests and farmland.
“We have three focus areas, three reasons for conservation, and one is forests,” DeBoer said. “We try to conserve as much as possible in large land blocks of 500 acres or more ... [and] we do traditional agricultural protections to preserve farmland.”
Protecting forests and farms are two of KLT’s main goals, but the third focus is building community. An example is the All Farmers initiative. All Farmers, a partnership with the Springfield nonprofit of that name, conserved farmland by establishing the Riquezas del Campo (Riches of the Field) Coop Farm in Hatfield. Sixty immigrant families, farmers from Asia and Africa, established businesses to bring the traditional farming methods of their home countries to the valley. The new program supplies food to 500 low-income families in Hampden County.
The program “serves new immigrants, connecting them to land,” DeBoer said, “to farm it for themselves and their communities.”
KLT’s parks and trails collaborative works to protect land in urban settings and to create trails easily accessed by local residents. The hiking for health collaborative prompts people to enjoy those trails while staying in shape. Another reason to get out on the conserved lands is the learning from the land program, outings when a teacher-expert leads hikers to gain knowledge of local flora, fauna, and geographical features.
“We have a couple different themes to attract people and connect them to the land,” DeBoer said. “We have an art and nature track, where we’ll be inviting artists to a Kestrel reserve in the town of Amherst, at the Mount Holyoke range. We’ll have a few programs this year with artists who will be painting the scene and what they see.”
A Big Brothers Big Sisters event recently drew both young and older for a few hours on the trails. Whately Woods, a recently completed project half a mile outside the town center, hosted a hike on Jan. 29. On Feb. 24, Professor Doug Tallamy will present the ideas of his book, Nature’s Best Hope, via Zoom.
KLT currently has 24 projects in various stages of development, including farm and forest protection, and community building. The land trust began in 1970 when a number of Amherst residents joined together to conserve land for the future. In 2010, when KLT combined with Valley Land Fund, the nonprofit hired staff, professionalized the organization, and by 2020 had about 25,000 acres under conservation protections.
KLT has an army of volunteers. “We’re a community supported organization, with over 2,000 active members, and our work is only possible with their support,” DeBoer said. “Our members want to see land conservation closer to their homes.”
KLT staff recently finished a project in Amherst, the Lawrence Swamp area, and have a grant to work on the public lands around Mount Toby. The Robert Frost Trail, one of the more popular trails in the area, needs upkeep and maintenance.
“It’s a work in progress,” DeBoer said. “It’s been around for decades, and many people have an affinity for it, so we’re looking for volunteers help to maintain and improve it on public lands.”
KLT is also helping boost the numbers of its namesake by maintaining kestrel boxes. The nesting sites of the raptor were set up in 2013. According to program records, 71 percent of occupied boxes were successful in 2021, with 48 live chicks hatched. Of 48 chicks, 42 were known to survive banding. The surviving kestrels were the second largest group of the program. It was also the first year that previously banded adults returned to the boxes.
DeBoer returned the discussion to forests, so much a part of the western Massachusetts experience. While DeBoer has been leading Kestrel Land Trust the nonprofit has protected over 10,000 acres of land that will remain wild, forested or farmed, in perpetuity.
“Forests are my focus,” DeBoer said, “both for wildlife habitat and for the resilience of our communities to provide water and clean air, and climate change resilience. Forests are why we live here, as well as the beauty of the valley, and the productive farms. That’s what the valley offers.”
To volunteer, become a member or make a donation to Kestrel Land Trust visit kestreltrust.org for more information.