Lorrie Mittmann, who began as a part-time employee at the Land Trust in 2007 and ended up developing and overseeing its monitoring and conservation efforts, was presented the Gary Colley Legacy Award at the 31st Land Trust Annual Meeting on Nov. 17.
Lorrie Mittmann/The Land Trust
Mittmann’s award was one of the highlights of the the event, which was held online for the second year due to COVID-19 restrictions. Guests attended the meeting via Zoom, where they could chat and ask questions. For those who missed it, the meeting is available on the Land Trust’s YouTube channel.
The Gary Colley Legacy Award recognizes an individual or group that has been instrumental to the Land Trust’s growth and success. As the Land Trust’s easement and steward manager, Lorrie built a volunteer corps, oversaw the addition of significant ownership to the Land Trust’s conservation efforts, and was integral in the Land Trust receiving formal recognition from the national Land Trust Alliance Accreditation Commission in 2012.
As part of his yearly review, Executive Director Tom Sanford discussed the Land Trust’s 2017-2021 strategic plan, praised the year’s successes like the Resilient Rivers campaign and the River’s Edge project, lauded the Land Trust’s active volunteer corps, and noted the continuing challenges and opportunities of conserving farmland on the North Olympic Peninsula.”
Attendees enjoyed a presentation by Kim Williams, district manager of the Clallam Conservation District, and Meghan Adamire, Clallam Conservation District conservation planner, on the CCD’s partnership with the Land Trust in implementing the Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) on Land Trust conservation areas. CREP works with landowners in planting trees and shrubs along streams and in wetlands to establish riparian buffers and to help control weeds and invasive plants. Williams and Adamire focused their presentation on the CREP program at the Lyre River Conservation Area, where 1,725 native species have been planted on almost 3½ acres at the site.