News
Thank you to everyone who participated in and supported the 42nd annual Connecticut Land Conservation Conference.
We are deeply grateful for the opportunity to spend time with so many amazing people who are at the forefront of the land conservation movement in Connecticut. Your work, and our collective impact, gives us hope, inspires us to take action, and allows us to feel a sense of control in this otherwise chaotic world.
A special thank you goes out to our keynote speaker, Wawa Gatheru, who reinforced that sense of hope, and that call to action, in her remarks and through her conversation with old friend and ally David Sutherland. In a time when our country and world are polarized in so many ways, Wawa Gatheru is dedicated to bridging divides, fostering a new generation of leaders, encouraging positive local action, and making climate action and caring for our natural environment more empathetic, inclusive, and accessible.
This year’s conference was truly an amazing day. When 650+ land trust staff and volunteers, environmental professionals, elected officials, and conservation advocates come together for a day of connection, learning, and inspiration, our sense of hope is renewed and our commitment to action is reinforced.
Thank you for sharing our mission, and for all you do on behalf of Connecticut’s natural and working lands.
Plenary Highlights
Keynote: “Everyone Can Be An Environmentalist”
This year’s conference kicked off with an inspiring plenary session featuring Wanjiku “Wawa” Gatheru, a Connecticut native, national climate justice leader, and founder of Black Girl Environmentalist. Wawa shared her powerful, optimistic vision for the future in a fireside-style conversation with longtime conservation leader David Sutherland.
Her message focused on making the climate movement more empathetic and inclusive, reminding us that environmental leadership begins close to home and grows when we build it together. She reminded land trusts that they don’t just protect land, they shape people’s relationships with it. By welcoming people of all backgrounds onto their trails, they play a critically important role in forming and cultivating a lifelong connection to land and its natural inhabitants.
Announcing the Forever Connecticut Fund
We shared a major announcement: the launch of the Forever Connecticut Fund. Supported by nearly $1.5 million in donations and pledges, this new bridge loan program will provide land trusts the agile capital needed to act quickly on critical conservation opportunities as they arise.
Celebrating Conservation Heroes
We honored several conservation leaders and land trusts with our Excellence in Conservation Awards, including Anthony Irving of the Lyme Land Trust, the Warren Land Trust, the East Haddam Land Trust & Library System, and the Cooper Hill Conservation Alliance for their extraordinary local and regional achievements. We also recognized two Conservation Heroes, Doris Johnson (CT DEEP) and Elisabeth Moore (CT Farmland Trust), for their incredible career-long impacts on people, land, and communities throughout the state.
Conference Workshops & Roundtables
Throughout the day, attendees dove into 56 diverse workshops organized across seven specialized tracks. Post-conference evaluations showed highly positive feedback across the board, with attendees finding immense value in the diverse offerings. Based on initial feedback, a few standout examples from the tracks included:
- Wildlife & Habitat Stewardship: The Firefly Sanctuaries: Conservation, Learning, and Engagement workshop, hosted by Richard Joyce of the Xerces Society for Invertebrate Conservation, was described as “inspiring,” while practical sessions like Ecological Approaches to Invasive Species Management, hosted by Swamp Yankee Earthcare, received perfect marks for addressing crucial, on-the-ground land management challenges.
- Conservation Funding: CLCC’s own Grant Funding and Financial Assistance Roundtable, co-hosted by Yaw and Ricky, was a critical resource for many, with attendees praising the presenters for successfully breaking down complex grant programs into actionable steps.
- Conservation Tools & Technology: Land trusts looking to modernize their operations praised Satellite Monitoring: Principals to Practices, hosted by Amanda Branson and Mary Walsh of the Northwest Connecticut Land Conservancy, and Beyond the Chatbot: Practical AI Uses for Land Trusts, hosted by CLCC’s own Aaron Lefland. Participants described the presentations as “outstanding” and “extremely helpful.”
- Organizational Capacity, Governance & Fundraising: Attendees gave top marks to sessions on development, with one participant noting the workshop Tell Me A Story I Can Use In An Appeal Letter, hosted by David Allen of Development for Conservation, provided a “wealth of information” and was so engaging that people didn’t want to leave.
Thank You Sponsors!
We are grateful to all of our sponsors who make the Connecticut Land Conservation Conference affordable and accessible for the land conservation community, including the following leadership-level supporters:
GOLD SPONSOR
SILVER SPONSORS
BRONZE SPONSORS
