Dear Friends of the Central New York Land Trust,

I am excited to announce that I have joined the Central New York Land Trust as the new Executive Director! Although our physical land trust office is located at 7 Fennell Street in Skaneateles, I’ve been fortunate to have been introduced to many of our supporters while touring several of the 51 preserves managed by the CNY Land Trust since my arrival at the end of August.

My background includes more than fifteen years of land management experience, while serving the past ten years as Executive Director at the not-for-profit Rogers Environmental Education Center located in Sherburne, N.Y. I enjoy building bridges (both literally and figuratively) and look forward to bringing my knowledge of grant writing, fundraising, community development, and passion for doing what’s right for our environment to this nearly 50+ year old organization, The Central New York Land Trust.

I was raised in Central New York, received my B.S. from a college in western New York and currently reside with my young family in Cazenovia. I am more than confident in the abilities of the CNY Land Trust staff and thank them for being so welcoming and accepting of me. The CNY Land Trust board of directors has also been very supportive of me in my role and I look forward to growing this organization alongside this amazing team.

This coming year has many exciting changes ahead, including multiple property transfers from Ducks Unlimited to the CNY Land Trust in Oswego County. Thanks to NAWCA “North American Wetlands Conservation Act”, funding has been allocated to restore two properties back to their original state after having been converted to muck farms and onion plantations years ago.

Lastly, we are in the midst of managing one of the largest NYS consolidated funding grants ever received by a non-profit for property acquisition in and around the Skaneateles Lake Watershed through New York’s Water Quality Improvement Program.  These grants provide immense opportunity to ensure we acquire key parcels of land that directly impact both the surrounding watershed and the City of Syracuse water supply.  However, as an organization we must raise $1.5 million to fulfill the matching requirements of the grants.  This will take all of our collective effort to secure and will be the focus of much of our fundraising efforts this year.  

 

I hope to have the opportunity to get to know all of you - our volunteers, donors, partners, and neighbors. I appreciate your continued support of the Central New York Land Trust and look forward to sharing our experiences and news with you as things develop.
 

 

 

Simon M. Solomon
Executive Director
ssolomon@cnylandtrust.org
www.cnylandtrust.org