Longtime land trust leader Bonnie Lounsbury is seeking new challenges and time to spend on her hobbies.
By Julie Kachinski
Staff Writer

LEWISTON – After 15 years, 16 projects and 2,200 acres, Bonnie Lounsbury has stepped down from the Androscoggin Land Trust.

Much to the dismay of fellow trustees.

“After doing nearly everything short of getting down on our knees and begging her to stay – and we would have done that, too, if we thought it might have worked – we decided we had to make the best of it,” said Land Trust President Gary Maurer.

Lounsbury, one of the 12 founding members of the trust, has been actively involved in the protection and conservation of local land since 1989.

A Maine resident for 24 years, Lounsbury was captivated by the landscape that this area had to offer – the combination of hills, forests, farms, fields and lakes. Her interest in land trust issues, as well as the real estate boom of the 1980s, helped spark the formation of the Androscoggin Land Trust.

“Basically, whatever ALT has done, Bonnie has done,” said Maurer. “She’s been the prime mover.”

From their first joint easement with the Lake Auburn Watershed Protection Commission to current drafting of a deal for the Packard-Littlefield Farm in Lisbon, Lounsbury has been dedicated to the nonprofit organization. She served as board member, president and most recently, executive director.

At times it was a full-time job but never less than a part-time job, Lounsbury said .

For nearly 15 years this ‘job’ has been her passion. But now it is time for the land trust to set whatever direction it wants without her oversight.

“I’m the sort of person who loves to create something that hasn’t existed,” Lounsbury said. “I’m not the sort of person who enjoys running an organization once it’s established.”

Over the past year and a half, Lounsbury has been busy transcribing her knowledge of the organization and land trust issues for current and future members. She has written a series of memoranda on various aspects of running the land trust and the history of each transaction.

“She is probably the best in the state at dealing with local landowners and helping them protect their land. She shares an empathy with the landowner of their land, which is absolutely genuine, and this is evident upon first contact,” Maurer said.

Since a land trust promises permanence, the transition from the original board to a new one shows the strength of the organization, she said, I have no doubt that the land trust will continue to thrive without me.

At the annual meeting on May 28, members presented Lounsbury with an environmental award established in her name. The award is designed to “recognize those who identify possibilities, and with hard work and perseverance create the opportunities to turn these possibilities into realities.”

Lounsbury also received the Maine Conservation Award in 1992 from the Natural Resources Council of Maine and a Community Service Leadership Award from the Androscoggin County Chamber of Commerce in 2000. She was named Citizen Planner of the Year in 1995 by the Maine Association of Planners and the New England Association of Planners, as well as the National Park Service Conservation Hero in 1996.

“She has laid a foundation of hard work, ethics and passion for environmental protection that will serve us well for many, many years to come,” Maurer said.

With her newly acquired free time, Lounsbury hopes to focus on some of her hobbies.

Her plans for the immediate future include gardening, photography and weaving. She also hopes to work on a book, which she describes as “a train passenger’s guide to reading the landscape,” which she has been working on periodically for about 10 years.

jkachinski@sunjournal.com

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