Land Trust Welcomes New Board President Mike Maloney
In January 2012 Mike Maloney took over the position of president of the MLCT Board of Directors from Diana Insolio, who led the board for four years. Mike has been an active board member for nine years. As a child Mike developed his love for the outdoors as a member of the National Campers and Hikers Association and of the Boy Scouts. When Mike moved to Madison in 2000, he wasted no time getting out on Land Trust properties and soon was invited to become a member of the board. His favorite hikes are in the White Mountains of New Hampshire and in the Catskill Mountains of New York. For the past few years he has managed to get in several hikes (or snowshoe trips) in these places. This winter Mike and his wife, Macdara MacColl, plan to do their first Hut-to-Hut cross-country ski trip in Maine’s 100-Mile Wilderness. Mike, Macdara, and their three children, Tara, Sawyer and Craigin, are all active hikers, boaters and campers.
Cedar Island seen from the Ox Pasture platform
The MLCT is poised to acquire Cedar Island, a lovely one-acre parcel located in the East River between the state boat launch at Neck Road/Circle Beach Road and Friends & Company on Route 1. For generations the island has been owned by the Ives family, whose members have generously agreed to donate the land to the MLCT. Thanks to the generosity of the Ives family, canoeists, kayakers and other boaters who have for years traveled past Cedar Island will soon be able to stop and enjoy its unique setting, its cedar woods, and the plaque that will be erected in honor of its donors.
MLCT and TPL Partner to Save Summer Hill Property
The Madison Land Conservation Trust (MLCT) recently took ownership of 77 acres of open space located at the intersection Route 80 and Summer Hill Road. The land, within a large watershed, is a gateway to north Madison’s rural beauty, connecting thousands of acres of open space owned by public and private entities along Summer Hill Road. The land was owned for many years by Jane Bauermeister, who passed the property on to her children at her death several years ago. The Bauermeister children retained and sold the 6.4-acre parcel on the east side of Summer Hill Road, which was the site of the Bauermeister homestead, as well as art and music festivals organized by Mrs. Bauermeister during her lifetime. Development is restricted on the retained parcel, thereby preserving the scenic value of the area.
The MLCT partnered with the Trust for Public Land (TPL) in a campaign to raise funds for the purchase. The purchase could not have gone forward without the generosity of an anonymous donor, whose appreciation for the beauty and ecology of north Madison motivated all who worked on the project. The MLCT’s anonymous donor gave the MLCT $600,000 to the campaign and then provided another $300,000 loan at closing. The State of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection granted another $500,000 for the acquisition. These funds, along with the many generous donations by private donors, met the campaign’s goal of $1.6 million.
The MLCT is now reaching out to our supporters and members to help us retire our $300,000 debt. Please consider mailing a donation to the Madison Land Conservation Trust, P.O. Box 561, Madison, CT 06443, and note on the check that your gift is for the Summer Hill campaign.
Find the Summer Hill Property on the map below.
Click the flag for directions.
Joan O’Neill, former MLCT director, officer, and chair of the Land Acquisition Committee, was elected Honorary Director by the MLCT membership in November 2010. Joan spent many years on the board and served the Land Trust in almost every capacity, including Secretary, Vice-President, newsletter editor, leader of innumerable hikes, and organizer of the annual Moonlight Walk. One of her most important contributions was her service as chair of the Land Acquisition Committee, devising a long-range acquisition plan, laying the groundwork for land donations, and coordinating acquisitions.
When the Regional Water Authority (RWA) announced in 2000 that it planned to sell 115 acres located west of the traffic circle, Joan became an impassioned supporter of the project, now known as the Neck River Uplands (NRU) preserve, the largest land purchase in MLCT history. She undertook an aggressive grant application program that resulted in generous donations from the CT Department of Environmental Protection, the Erwin C. Bauer Charitable Trust, the Archbold Charitable Trust, the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven, and many others. In great part due to her efforts, the MLCT was able to pay off its mortgages to the RWA on schedule in 2008 and 2010. A beautiful moss-covered trail on the NRU northern parcel bears her name.
