As far back as the 1960s, there was a growing sense among a prescient group of Greenwich citizens of the fragile, yet vital nature of the town’s natural environment and thus began the quest for conservation and preservation of open space in Greenwich. Paul van der Stricht, President of the Greenwich Audubon Society, saw a need for a local land trust in Greenwich and was one of the town’s first land trust advocates. At a Greenwich Audubon Society board meeting in December 1970, the Greenwich Audubon Land Trust division was born. Together with Dan Badger (Chairman of the Town of Conservation Commission from 1964-1968), Frank Coyle, F. Richards Ford, Bobbie Girdler, Phoebe Milliken, Kitty Starr (President of the Greenwich Garden Club), and van der Stricht, the Greenwich Audubon Land Trust division began operations in the Fall of 1971 and received 14 properties spanning 85 acres within the first 18 months of its inception. Five years later, in July 1976, the Greenwich Land Trust was formally incorporated as a separate, nonprofit tax-exempt organization, independent from the Greenwich Audubon Society. Van der Stricht was elected and served as the GLT’s first president for 10 years. At the conclusion of his tenure, GLT had acquired an additional 50 properties, bringing GLT’s total acquisitions to over 245 acres.
The ‘80s and ‘90s saw a rapid expansion in our roster of properties, notably the 51-acre Westfall Preserve in 1989. Donated by the Baker family, Westfall, at the time, was GLT’s single largest land donation. Today, GLT continues to host educational events on this magnificent property, which is connected to the Town of Greenwich’s Babcock Preserve. In 1990, Julius Silver donated 5.2-acre Shell Island, making it one of the first island donations acquired by a land trust. And in 1994, founding land donor Lewis Lapham completed his multi-year gift amounting to nearly 40 acres, forming a beautiful greenway along John Street. The growing number of acquisitions soon required investment in both administrative and stewardship efforts. In 1987, GLT hired its first Executive Director, Daniel Barrett, a well-renowned marine biology teacher at Greenwich High School, to develop and coordinate stewardship efforts among its growing Board and volunteers. In 1995, GLT begins one of its first major stewardship projects - the restoration of its heirloom apple orchards.
GLT built momentum during this time with key land donations, some of which were purchased in response to combat the massive residential development during that time. In 2001, for example, a grassroots campaign was organized to save Treetops, a spectacular 94-acre property abutting the Mianus River Park. GLT was selected to be one of four holders of the Treetop conservation easement and will now be forever protected. And when Fisher Field at Sabine Farm in backcountry Greenwich was threatened by development, neighbors and friends rallied to purchase it and give it to GLT.
In 2000, the Go Wild! fundraiser was conceived by Mariette Badger and remains one of Greenwich’s most popular annual community events for families. In 2012, Louise Mueller donated her 4-acre property with a farmhouse and barns on Round Hill Road, which currently serves as GLT’s operational home base.
In that same year, GLT earned national accreditation from the Land Trust Accreditation Commission following a rigorous external review. Today, GLT remains among the 478 accredited members of the Land Trust Alliance.
After more than 40 years of dedicated effort and continuing strong support from the community, GLT has evolved into one of the most respected and active conservation organizations in the region. The vision of the founders gained strength as more and more generous citizens and community partners have left legacies of land to protect our future. In 2021, GLT acquired the 72-acre Converse Brook Preserve in an historic and unprecedented bargain sale with Aquarion Water Company. This treasured 80-acre preserve not only provides an expansive new greenway for the Greenwich community but preserves and protects our community’s character, critical habitat, and water quality in the Byram River watershed. In 2023, GLT received 139-acre Byram River Preserve in an historic transfer from The Nature Conservancy, which officially put our roster of properties over the 1000-acre mark. With large undeveloped parcels becoming increasingly rare in our community, conserving those that remain becomes vitally important. As we look ahead to our 50th anniversary, we strive to advance van der Stricht’s vision in everything we do and hope you will join us in our mission.
