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Upper Saco Valley Land Trust (USVLT) Executive Director Jen Pribble recently announced her decision to leave her position.

Board of Directors President Doug Burnell said, “Jen Pribble led a year of important accomplishment for the Land Trust, and we are grateful to have had her in the job. She has always put the mission foremost and, among other things, she brought to fruition in 2023 one of the organization’s signature accomplishments, the acquisition of the 1,250-acre Dundee Community Forest, in Bartlett and Jackson, New Hampshire. Jen’s been a strong, respected public ambassador for our cause.”

Pribble said, “My year at the helm of the region’s land trust has been rewarding, for which I thank every staff person, our board and other volunteers, and members and grantors who have enabled this twenty-two-year-old nonprofit to permanently conserve 12,000 acres in New Hampshire and Maine, establishing 19 preserves open to the public and acquiring 63 conservation easements.”

USVLT’s eleven-town, bi-state service area comprises Albany, Bartlett, Chatham, Conway, Eaton, Hart’s Location, Jackson and Madison, New Hampshire, and Brownfield, Denmark and Fryeburg, Maine.

March 8 will be her last day of work. Burnell said, “Happily for us, Jen, a former USVLT board member, has agreed to continue serving our effective nonprofit as a volunteer.”

Said Pribble, “We’ve acquired working forests, farmland, lands with exceptional wildlife habitat and water resources, and created spaces for outdoor recreation by protecting access for climbing and skiing and creating trails for exploration by foot or bike. All add economic value for our community and ensure we can thrive in concert with undeveloped natural landscapes.”  

She added, “These lands are increasingly important as our region continues to undergo striking development. Land conservation creates community wealth and spaciousness and adds scenic balance.”

The Land Trust has 600 members/supporters, who supply cash gifts and land donations. The organization runs a $400,000 operating budget, manages $2.6 million in investments and receives foundation and state and federal agency grants and personal gifts for acquisitions and special projects. 

USVLT has six staff, is governed by a 13-person unpaid board of directors and fields a corps of dedicated volunteers to help manage its forty-mile trail complex and perform other stewardship tasks.

The board will conduct a national search for a new executive director and manage the organization during the transition.