VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT

The Virtue of Volunteering: A Land Steward Gives Back To a North Country Forest

By Carrie Deegan

Tom Banit believes strongly in volunteer service. As a history and education professor at Kean University in New Jersey, he always encouraged his students to get involved in their local communities and do “good” things to make them better places to live and work. When he retired and relocated to northern New Hampshire, Banit took his own advice to heart by practicing “civic virtue, ” which led him to become a land steward for the Forest Society’s David Dana Forest in Dalton.

Banit takes his responsibilities as a volunteer land steward very seriously, contributing an incredible number of hours in all seasons to monitor the Dana Forest and maintain its trails. He spends his time clearing blown down trees off the trails, cleaning culverts and drainages to make sure roads and trails don’t wash out, and monitoring recreational uses on the 300-acre property. “I’m out there at least one day a week [in the] spring, summer, fall, and winter—it doesn’t matter. There is a lot of work to be done on a piece of land like this, ” he notes. Banit has worked more than 900 hours in the three and a half years that he’s been a steward, completing and documenting with precision every task that needs doing. He acknowledges he’s had some good training in that regard. “I spent three years as a communications officer in the Marine Corps, including a tour in Vietnam. When you’re assigned something in the Marines, you simply do it and get it done well—no questions asked. ”

Based on Banit’s exceptional work as a volunteer land steward, the Forest Society recently nominated him for a Volunteer Service Award through Volunteer NH. Banit went on to win the award and he was recognized for this accomplishment at the Spirit of New Hampshire Volunteer Awards ceremony in November 2021. “Tom is incredibly dedicated and David Dana Forest’s trail system is one of the best maintained in the state thanks to his phenomenal effort and attention to detail. He deserves this award, ” says Andy Crowley, stewardship projects manager for the Forest Society.

Banit says he’s seen a significant increase in hiker traffic over the years he’s been stewarding, which he attributes to better availability of trail information in apps such as AllTrails and the Forest Society’s mobile trails app, powered by OuterSpatial, and to the heightened interest in outdoor recreation driven by the COVID-19 pandemic. The Dana Forest has about two miles of relatively easy trails, including one hike to an abandoned (unproductive) gold mine that was active for a short time in the early 1880s. “To me, it is a user-friendly forest, ” Banit says. “It does not prepare someone to hike in the Himalayas or the Rocky Mountains, but it’s a great place for families to go, and they can get out and have a good time. ” He also enjoys sharing the land use history of the property with visitors. “As a historian and educator, I still like to educate people. Once they get to know more about this forest, it becomes more interesting to them. ”

Banit’s energy is seemingly boundless, and his enthusiasm for community forests and the Forest Society’s work is genuine and infectious. “The Forest Society serves a very important function as society becomes more complex and people are rushing here and there, ” he notes. “[It’s important] to have a forest locally where you can stay for several hours and go for a nice hike. You can go for a jog…you can go snowshoeing…and you can bring your child and dog with you. Everyone can get together and hike. That to me makes the Forest Society a good place to volunteer. ” We could not agree more, Tom! Thanks for sharing your time, talents, and positive perspective with us!

Tom Banit, land steward for the David Dana Forest in Dalton, NH, was recently recognized with a Volunteer Service Award through Volunteer NH.

Carrie Deegan is the reservation stewardship and engagement director for the Forest Society.