The Governance Committee of the Board of Directors has proposed the following amendments to the Conservancy’s bylaws, to be voted on by the membership at our Annual Meeting (10/4). The relevant sections are included below, with proposed changes indicated in red. Please reach out to our staff and board with any comments or questions about these proposed changes by emailing info@hanoverconservancy.org.

Item 1: Current language

Section 3.1 Number and Terms. The Corporation shall have a board of 13 Directors. The members of the Board of Directors shall be elected for terms not to exceed three years. No member shall serve more than three consecutive three-year terms, unless an exception is granted by the Board. Whenever possible, terms shall be staggered so that one-third of the terms expire each year. The President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer shall be elected by the Board of Directors from their membership. Unless otherwise permitted by the Board of Directors, officers may serve up to three consecutive two-year terms. Regarding selection of new Board members, the Nominating Committee welcomes input at any time from any member of the corporation. Terms begin on January 1 and expire on December 31.

Item 1: Proposed change

Section 3.1 Number and Terms. The Corporation shall have a board of no fewer than 9 and no more than 15 Directors. The members of the Board of Directors shall be elected for terms not to exceed three years. No member shall serve more than three consecutive three-year terms, unless an exception is granted by the Board. Whenever possible, terms shall be staggered so that one-third of the terms expire each year. The President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer shall be elected by the Board of Directors from their membership. Unless otherwise permitted by the Board of Directors, officers may serve up to three consecutive two-year terms. Regarding selection of new Board members, the Nominating Committee welcomes input at any time from any member of the corporation. Terms begin on January 1 and expire on December 31.

Item 2: Current language

Item 2: Proposed changes

Section 2.5 Annual Meeting. The Corporation shall hold a meeting of its members annually. This meeting shall be held at a convenient hour and place designated by the Board of Directors for the purpose of electing members of the Board of Directors, considering the annual reports and transacting such other business as may come before the meeting.

The Governance Committee of the Board of Directors has recommended two candidates for election to the Hanover Conservancy Board of Directors, Rev. Dr. Andi Lloyd and Linde McNamara.

    Andi Lloyd

Rev. Dr. Andi Lloyd is an ecologist and an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. She received her B.A. degree in Geography from Dartmouth College in 1989, an M.S. in Biology & Wildlife from the University of Alaska Fairbanks in 1992, and a PhD in ecology and evolutionary biology from the University of Arizona in 1996. From 1996 to 2020, she was on the faculty of Middlebury College, where she taught classes on plant ecology, ecology and evolution, and climate change. While at Middlebury, she conducted research on the effects of climate change on forests in Alaska and Siberia.  From 2012 to 2019, Andi also served as the Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs at Middlebury.  Andi left academia in 2020 to pursue pastoral ministry. In 2022, she received her M.Div. degree from Yale Divinity School, after which she was ordained in the United Church of Christ. From 2022 to 2025, she served as pastor of the Trinitarian Congregational Parish of Castine, Maine. In October 2025, she joined the staff of the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College as co-pastor. Andi is the author/co-author of more than 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters on forests and climate change.  Along with Rev. Dr. Andy Nagy-Benson, she is the author of Letters to the Ecotone: Ecology, Theology, and Climate Change (Resource Publications, 2022).

    Linde McNamara

Linde McNamara is a real estate professional with more than 35 years of experience working in Hanover and the Upper Valley. Linde has been a longtime supporter of the Hanover Conservancy, serving as a member of our Community Engagement committee and acting as a key volunteer at Conservancy events and outings. She has resided in Hanover for more than four decades, and has played an active role in numerous community organizations, including the Ocean Alliance, the New Hampshire Conservation Law Foundation, the Upper Valley Humane Society, Youth-in-Action, and the Hanover Garden Club. Linde is an active outdoorswoman, and enjoys gardening, sailing, hiking, and skiing. She lives with her husband John in rural Hanover, near several properties protected by the Conservancy. Linde has held a long-standing interest in environmental and conservation issues, earning her bachelors degree from Colby Sawyer College, along with a masters degree in Marine Biology.

The Hanover Conservancy is excited to introduce the newest member of our team, Savannah Bailey! Savannah joins us as our Stewardship Coordinator. In this role, she will oversee the care of our growing portfolio of protected lands: maintaining trails, improving habitat, and developing and implementing management strategies to ensure a healthy and sustainable future for these vital natural resources.  Savannah will also contribute to our volunteer and community engagement programs, supporting our work connect members of our community to each other and to the places they live, work, and love.

Savannah is an ecological landscape designer, environmental scientist and educator, and lifelong steward of natural landscapes. She grew up in rural Plymouth, NH, surrounded by sheep, chickens, and northern hardwood forests. She has spent time as an ecological landscaper in Maine and a water resources scientist in Vermont, and holds a Masters of Science in Ecological Design and Planning from the Conway School in Massachusetts. She is passionate about connecting communities with their local landscapes and building resilient futures for the human and more-than-human world. She is excited to be returning to New Hampshire and looks forward to exploring the Upper Valley’s trails, waterways, natural areas, and the music and crafting scene.

We look forward to introducing you to Savannah at upcoming events over the next few months. In the meantime, feel free to stay hello when you see her on the trails or around town!

The Hanover Conservancy is pleased to announce the selection of Barry Matthews as its third Executive Director. Matthews has served as the land trust’s Program Manager since 2023.

Matthews joined the Conservancy after holding outreach and education roles at several other New England conservation nonprofits including the Stowe Land Trust in Stowe, Vermont, where he served as Community Engagement Manager. During his time in Hanover Barry has served as land manager to the Conservancy’s portfolio of more than 1,300 protected acres and overseen the upkeep and expansion of a network of more than 20 miles of public recreational trails. He has also taken an active role in the organization’s communications, fundraising, and land protection programs.

“We are thrilled that Barry will be the next Executive Director,” says Heidi Trimarco, President of the Conservancy’s Board of Directors. “He was the strongest candidate in a truly impressive pool of applicants devoted to protecting our environment. He will be an excellent leader of the Conservancy, with his quiet competence, deep commitment to protecting Hanover’s natural spaces, and fresh ideas. I am excited to see where he takes the organization.”

“I am delighted that Barry Matthews will be the next executive director of the Hanover Conservancy,” adds Russ Muirhead, chair of the Conservancy’s Governance Committee. “Barry is intimately familiar with every step of the Conservancy’s trails and every patch of land the Conservancy stewards. He has an abiding passion for its mission. He combines a down-to-earth common sense with a big picture strategic sensibility. Most of all, he is a people person with a deep connection to the community.”

Stepping into his role as Program Manager in 2023 ten days before the organization closed on the largest and most challenging project in its history, Matthews found innovative and effective ways to address its significant stewardship needs. He has also expanded the Conservancy’s 65-year-long tradition of free community programming through co-sponsored events with Dartmouth College, the Howe and Etna Libraries, and other local and regional partners.

“I am overjoyed at this announcement,” says Adair Mulligan, the Conservancy’s first full-time executive director, who is stepping down after 15 years of service. “Barry is a strategic thinker and gifted communicator who is deeply committed to conservation and to ensuring that all can share in the benefits of our work. He knows the organization inside out and has been a key player in the strong progress we have made in recent years.”

Conservation has been a through line of Matthews’ personal and professional lives since he began exploring the expansive network of publicly and privately protected lands near his childhood home in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains. As a PhD candidate in American Studies at the College of William & Mary his work focused on how images of the landscape shaped the American environmental movement, and he encouraged his students to enthusiastically build connections with the human and natural communities they shared space with. He holds a Masters of Arts from William & Mary, and a Bachelor of Arts in Art History from VCUarts in Richmond, Virginia.

An active and versatile volunteer, Barry believes getting involved goes hand in hand with making a home. He has rolled up his sleeves at a wide variety of community organizations including the Stowe Conservation Commission, Hartland Winter Trails, the Berkshires Natural Resources Council, and many more. He currently serves on the board of Central Vermont Community Radio, where he is also a volunteer programmer. An outdoors enthusiast, he can often be found exploring the Upper Valley’s trails, roads, waters, and slopes.

“I strongly believe in the power of grassroots organizations like the Hanover Conservancy to create sustainable communities and inspire lasting change,” says Matthews. “Our work has never been more important, and it is an honor to step into this new role leading an organization with such a long track record of success. I am looking forward to working with our members, volunteers, and partners as we continue to pursue community-centered conservation outcomes, protecting the places that make Hanover special.”

The Hanover Conservancy, New Hampshire’s oldest local land trust, was founded in 1961 to protect land and water in the Hanover community. A 13-member Board of Directors guides the work of three staff at the private, non-profit organization, which has protected more than 3,000 acres in the region through conservation easements, fee ownership, and assistance to the Town of Hanover and others pursuing local land protection.

The Hanover Conservancy is celebrating the latest addition to its portfolio of protected lands, Black Bear Glen on Moose Mountain. This major property is the generous gift of Clyde Watson
and Denis Devlin.

Located on the mountain’s western slope close to the Appalachian Trail, Black Bear Glen abuts the Shumway Forest, also protected by the Conservancy. Black Bear Glen joins a network of
over 3,200 connected acres of conserved land on the ridge that dominates the town of Hanover.

“This is an extraordinary expanse of mountainside,” observes Adair Mulligan, the Conservancy’s Executive Director. “It reflects all our strategic conservation priorities, and provides climate resilience and flood protection for Etna Village.” Black Bear Glen’s forest and streams support a rich array of wildlife, including moose, black bear, bobcat, fisher, ruffed grouse, raptors, and wild brook trout. The NH Fish and Game Department describes 60 of the property’s 92 acres as the highest quality habitat in New Hampshire. The property also includes over 1/3 mile of Mink Brook, Hanover’s largest stream. Conserving the brook and its headwaters benefits water quality, wild brook trout habitat, and more. “These far-sighted landowners have made a lasting gift to our community.”

“What a wonderful thing it is to place this land in the capable hands of the Hanover Conservancy,” commented owner Clyde Watson, “and to continue sharing its gifts with our neighbors, human and animal alike—secure in the knowledge that it will be cared for and protected for evermore.”

Black Bear Glen is accessible from the Appalachian Trail just east of Three Mile Road and is open for hiking, nature observation, snowshoeing, back-country skiing, scientific research, hunting, and other non-motorized use. The historic Harris Trail—original route of the AT—crosses the property for 4/10 mile. The General’s Trail forms a loop that swings by hemlock-
shaded glens. The Trout Lily Trail connects to the Shumway Forest, leading to Mill Pond.

Traces of Hanover’s agricultural past dot the property, including stone walls and sheep lanes dating from the early 19th century.

The long-term effort to protect ecologically valuable, climate resilient lands on Moose Mountain began in 2013 with the donation of the Mayor-Niles Forest, followed by easements on the Mill Pond Forest in 2015 and Shumway Forest in 2017, donation of the Britton Forest in 2018, and the Conservancy’s purchase of the Headwaters Forest in 2023 and Hewes Ravine in July. The Conservancy recently won a grant from the Appalachian Trail Landscape Partnership’s Wild East Action Fund to help with survey and other costs of receiving the gift of land.