There are those who dream of owning unspoiled forestland in the Northeast Kingdom. And then there is Lydia Spitzer. A few years ago, the North Pomfret resident purchased 1,342 acres in Charleston and Morgan — not because it was pristine, but precisely because it was not.
“What attracted me to the land was that it had been badly managed,” she recalls. “I was wandering around the cleared portion when I came upon a beautiful, big hemlock on the shore of Echo Lake that had escaped being cut down.This is going to sound really new age,” she continues with a laugh, “but I felt like it was my responsibility to help this tree take care of its own ‘people.’ ”
In addition to forestland and Echo Lake frontage, Lydia’s property also includes a beaver pond and associated wetland, and has excellent soils. After the purchase, Lydia joined the Board of the nearby NorthWoods Stewardship Center (NWSC).This nonprofit organization employs local youths in a conservation service corps, conducts scientific research, maintains trails for outdoor recreation, models sustainable land management practices, and offers a wide range of education programs.
Through the Board, Lydia befriended a fellow Echo Lake landowner named Don Wilson. In 2000, Don and his wife, Jean, donated a conservation easement on 230 acres to the Vermont Land Trust, ensuring that the Center would have access to the land.With Don’s encouragement, Lydia did the same with her 1,342-acre parcel — the largest easement donation VLT has received from an individual. Now, the conservation corps youths will work on Lydia’s land and this once distressed forest will be cared for again by not only Lydia but also the full NorthWoods community with some stewardship help from VLT.
Jayson Benoit, the Center’s land management director, describes Lydia and Don as complementary pieces that bring spiritual and business perspectives to the organization. Don, who professionally advises nonprofits, says, “It’s a fragile organization, but it’s worthwhile and something that my family enjoys.”
When Lydia and Don became involved, the organization was at a crossroads. “Without land, the Center lacked credibility and was not fundable,” explains Board chair-elect Charles Woods. “We were putting management programs together for land that could, at any point, have been sold and vanished.”
Lydia plans to gift her conserved land to the NWSC in the next year. “Being an absentee landlord isn’t helping me, isn’t helping the land, and is not helping the community,” says Lydia.
A number of other landowners have also followed Don and conserved their land, giving the Center access to some 2,500 acres. “It means more to be part of a conglomeration, especially one that is centered around a hub that is a Stewardship Center,” says Arnold Golodetz, who conserved his land this summer with his wife,Virginia.
Jayson has been with the Center long enough to observe its long-term benefits to the community. “There’s been some kids who have followed right through from corps member to crew leader and have actually gone on to careers in conservation,” he explains. He is enthusiastic about the opportunities that the newly conserved land will provide. “There is spectacular lakefront, a lot of diversity of forest types, and some pretty special wetlands,” he says. “There’s a lot more we can do.”
