VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT
More Than Just a Volunteer: Land Steward and Easement Monitor Bob Mann By Emily Landy
R
20 | FOREST NOTES Spring 2021
in the VEMP program, I was forced to go beyond flip phones and into the new world of hand-held GPS. That is a major transition for any map-toting geezer! Thanks to [Forest Society Land Steward & Volunteer Coordinator] Zach Pearo, I didn’t totally mess it up. What’s your favorite part of volunteering for the Forest Society? The food at the annual volunteer dinner is second only to the satisfaction of contributing [to the Forest Society’s mission] with a bunch of like-minded volunteers.
Bob Mann Volunteer Easement Monitoring Program (VEMP). Mann has also adopted a Forest Society reservation through the Land Steward Program which he visits annually to conduct stewardship activities and serve as a local ambassador for the program. When asked about what the most important aspects of working and volunteering in the environmental field are, Mann says he “thinks the key in any environmental work is to achieve some public support for long-term protection of our natural resources. These are resources that, once lost, aren't coming back in many cases. [The] stewardship of open spaces is one of those areas where public support is vital.” In March 2021, Forest Society Easement Steward Emily Landry caught up with Mann to learn a little more about his volunteer experience. What’s one thing you learned as a volunteer that you did not know previously? As an old school map-and-compass type, I enjoyed the Forest Society’s VEMP training, which updated my old disused skills. With the adoption of digital tracking
Do you have a favorite reservation or conservation easement property? Each reservation has its own unique features, but I do have a special soft spot for the properties around Mount Kearsarge and Mount Monadnock. Did the pandemic impact your monitoring visits this year? Actually, I welcomed the social restrictions as one more reason to take to the outdoors. Social distancing is all the easier in the woods! What do you most appreciate about the volunteer programs? From the outside, it appears that the Forest Society’s volunteer programs provide a great way for the organization to leverage people power to monitor its properties. The training that the Forest Society provides is a great way to get everyone on the same page. All of the staff I have met have been super-friendly and helpful for those of us chipping in. Emily Landry is an easement steward for the Forest Society.
EMILY LANDRY
obert “Bob” Mann grew up in Amesbury, Mass., along the banks of the Merrimack River, but has lived in New Hampshire since 1975. As a child in the 1950s, Mann spent a lot of time outdoors with his friends. Not much was off-limits for them, except the Merrimack River, which was considered toxic due to the amount of raw sewage and pollutants that were dumped into it. “We were given clear instructions not to play in the water [by] every adult who was aware of what happened when you flushed a toilet and where it went,” he notes. “Such was the state of environmental concerns in the 1950s, and it was clear even then that things had to change for the better.” Growing up during a time when many rivers across the U.S. were treated as open sewers, and experiencing it first hand with the Merrimack, Mann was inspired to work in the environmental field. In the beginning of his career, he spent two years with the Peace Corps working on water projects, and he says that he has been in a “groove” ever since. This led him to work as a civil engineer, including for the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services, and later in life he joined his local conservation commission in Chichester, N.H., where he has served as chair for the last 20 years. Now retired, Mann has more time to hike, bike, and shore up his 1840s era New England farmhouse and barn, which he says has been a multidecade hobby of necessity. Around 10 years ago, Mann began volunteering for the Forest Society. “My family and I have admired the work and mission of the Forest Society for decades and saw that giving some time in the outdoors was a good use of my time,” he says. Every year, Mann monitors five conservation easements through the Forest Society’s
