Nature Conservancy Plants Newest Office, Director in the Laurel City, Winsted Journal, Dec 17 2004 -- New Hartford News

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Date Posted: Sun. Dec 19, 2004 8:20 pm
Author: Citizen
Subject: Nature Conservancy Plants Newest Office, Director in the Laurel City, Winsted Journal, Dec 17 2004

http://tcextra.com/cgi-script/csNews/csNews.cgi?database=WJ.db&command=viewone&op=t&id=5&rnd=519.7980664523611

Nature Conservancy Plants Newest Office, Director in the Laurel City
12-17-2004 -- By MELISSA JORDAN-REILLY Staff Reporter

WINSTED — It’s a long way from protecting elephants in Africa to looking out for the Northwest Corner’s flora and fauna, but Greg Overton said he’s thrilled to be back in the United States — and living and working in "the jewel of the state."

The director of newly-formed Northwest Highlands Landscape Program, a satellite office of the Nature Conservancy’s Connecticut chapter, has been busily setting up his new Center Street office for the past three weeks, but is now anxious to get to know his counterparts in the local conservation world.

"The Nature Conservancy has its [Connecticut] office in Middletown, but what they’ve been doing is go to more on-the-ground, ‘landscape offices,’" explained Overton. The Northwest Highlands Landscape Office is the newest one.

Winsted is a good choice for the Highlands office, he noted, because it is located nearly exactly in the middle of the Northwest Corner triangle, and is easily accessible. The office is at 24 Center Street, just behind Town Hall.

While the Highlands have been part of the Conservancy’s auspices for many years, it’s the first time that an office has been dedicated exclusively to protecting the area.

While Overland has never worked for the Nature Conservancy before, he has an extensive history in conservation work. After receiving his Bachelor’s degree in Fisheries and Wildlife at Michigan State, he joined the Peace Corps and was stationed in Zaire for three years. "And I found that I really liked Africa," he said.

So much so that Overton stayed there for a total of 15 years, including stints with the African Wildlife Foundation in Tanzania, the World Conservation Union ("The U.N. of the environmental movement," as he puts it) in Kenya, and most recently for the U.S. Agency for International Development in Madagascar. And somewhere in there he literally commuted to the U.K. to achieve his Master’s from the University of Wales.

But because he and his wife, Jennifer, are both from the states, "We decided it was time to come home." But for now, Overton is alone, as his wife continues her work with Catholic Relief Services in Madagascar and daughter Elly, 7, finishes her school year. (Rebeccah, 4, rounds out the Overton clan).

They expect to join Overton in June — which is a bit of a sore point with his daughters, he admits, because they are looking forward to experiencing their first snow. But even though his daughters will be arriving in relatively warm Connecticut weather, Overton says they are bound to experience some culture shock. While the girls speak both English and French, the latter is what they are learning to read and write in school.

For now, Overton is busy house hunting and setting up the Highlands office, which he moved into three weeks ago. "Our primary mission is biodiversity conservation," he explained. "What I want to do is see what everyone else is doing in the towns — the land trusts, the Planning and Zoning groups."

He said he envisions the Highlands program as a way of filling in the gaps and becoming a kind of umbrella organization for the various towns. "We can help bring a lot of resources to the table in terms of land-based acquisition funding, or working with them on open space planning, zoning laws and regulations, land restrictions and easements for certain pieces of land.

What may also become a factor in his job is the federal government’s Highlands Initiatives bill, which provides $100 million in funding to protect land in Connecticut, New York and Pennsylvania during the next 10 years. "The bill has passed, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they will find any real money for it," he said cannily, "My emphasis will be to learn and to figure out what’s going on."

Land acquisition can’t always be the first choice for conservation groups in the Northwest Corner, Overton noted, simply because real estate prices here are so high, "But there are less expensive ways of preserving land — to conserve what’s left up here."

And what’s left is pretty spectacular, the Michigan native marveled. "The forests here are wonderful — the Green Mountain Forest, the state forests and parks." That the Northwest Corner is known for its forests is a feat in itself, he said, because farmers had virtually stripped the state of trees as recently as 100 years ago.

Overton also noted the Blackberry and Hollenbeck rivers are in remarkably pristine condition in comparison to other rivers of comparable size and length.

"The Northwest Corner is a jewel for the state," he noted. "It’s a beautiful place." The beauty of the area, in fact, is what sold him on settling his family here when he came to talk to the Conservancy’s Board of Directors about the position last June, he said.

"That was the real selling point," Overton said. "I drove around thinking, ‘Oh, what a beautiful place.’"

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[> Re: Nature Conservancy Plants Newest Office, Director in the Laurel City, Winsted Journal, Dec 17 2004 -- Overtons Only, Tue. Oct 23, 2007 1:56 pm [1]

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