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2025 RCP Network Gathering

Thursday, November 6, at UMass Amherst

The 16th annual Regional Conservation Partnership (RCP) Network Gathering will focus on the crucial intersection of conservation, housing, and justice. Working across boundaries and cultivating trust are essential to conserve biodiversity while also ensuring equitable housing for people. Achieving this vision of an interconnected, resilient, and just landscape amid sweeping changes in federal policy, growing income inequality, and the worsening climate crisis will require strong partnerships and a willingness to share knowledge, resources, energy, and time. Regional Conservation Partnerships play a crucial role in building bridges and forging alliances across boundaries and sectors. Their work can frame our discussions in a way that underscores our collective responsibility as stewards of the one home we all share, planet Earth.  

This FREE one-day conference is open to all. Gather with us on November 6 at UMass Amherst as we explore innovative and just solutions to the related biodiversity and housing crises. 

Register Today

Please contact RCPInfo@highstead.net with any registration questions. 

GATHERING RESOURCES

Agenda 
Keynote
Sessions
Speakers
Travel, Parking, and Accommodations
Pre-Conference Events
About

KEYNOTE 
Earth, Land, Home—A Universal View 
Charles Liu, PhD

Our planet, our biosphere, and our humanity connect with one another in beautiful and intricate ways. Using examples from the field of astronomy, this year’s keynote will explore how we might find just and lasting answers to our hardest questions about land use, housing, and conservation. 

Charles Liu is a professor of astrophysics at the City University of New York’s College of Staten Island whose research focuses on starburst galaxies, supermassive black holes, and the star formation history of the universe. He has published eleven books about astronomy, and he hosts the podcast “The LIUniverse with Dr. Charles Liu.” Click here to learn more about Dr. Liu and his work.  

SESSIONS 

The 2025 RCP Network Gathering features 16 dynamic sessions led by nearly 50 speakers along four related tracks: Foundations & Connections; Space for Nature & People; Innovation, Design, & Resilience; and Communication, Coordination, & Collaboration. In addition, there will also be a special Closing Plenary hosted by the Northeast Forest Network on how to build meaningful collaborations. Click here to read about this year’s sessions. 

NETWORKING OPPORTUNITIES 

One of the main reasons people attend the RCP Network Gathering is to connect with other professionals. This year, we’re making it easier to network throughout the day, whether you’re new to the conference or a seasoned veteran.  

– Meet RCP Leaders 

New to the RCP Network? With over 50 RCPs throughout the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, chances are there is an active RCP near you! Partnership maps will be on display throughout the day, and you can meet with RCP leaders during the morning and lunch breaks. Find your local RCP here. 

– Breakfast with Friends (8 – 9 AM)

Gather with colleagues and friends, both old and new, over a light breakfast as you prepare for the day. 

– Lunchtime Networking (12:30 – 1:15 PM)

Looking to connect beyond the sessions? This year, we’re adding a lunchtime drop-in opportunity hosted by Karen Strong, principal of Strong Outcomes, to help you meet people you might not otherwise. Stop by, discover shared interests, and begin conversations that may grow into future collaborations.  

– Design Building Tour (12:30 PM – 1:15 PM)

Join a guided tour of the John W. Oliver Design Building to learn about innovative sustainable design. Don’t miss this unique opportunity to explore the nation’s largest and most technologically advanced academic contemporary wood structure! Meet at the Registration Desk.

PARKING 

Complimentary parking is available for all conference participants, but you must register your car in advance of the Gathering OR within 20 minutes of entering the UMass Parking Garage. Learn more and register your vehicle here.  

LGBTQIA+ DINNER

All LGBTQIA+ individuals are invited to socialize over dinner at a local restaurant following the conclusion of the Gathering on November 6. Email William Labich (they/them) at blabich@highstead.net for more information and to register. 

Sign up for the RCP Network E-News to receive updates about the 2025 Gathering, read inspiring stories about RCPs, learn about funding opportunities, and more!  

QUESTIONS? Please contact Katie Blake at kblake@highstead.net 

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2025 RCP Network Gathering AGENDA

Agenda at a Glance

TIME
ACTIVITY
8:00 AM
Breakfast
9:00 AM
Welcome and Keynote
10:15 AM
Break
10:45 AM
Morning Sessions
12:00 PM
Lunch
1:30 PM
Afternoon Sessions
2:45 PM
Break
3:00 PM
Closing Plenary
4:00 PM
Farewell

Sessions

TRACK
SESSION
Morning Sessions – 10:45 AM to 12 PM
Foundations & Connections
A1: Healthcare and Outdoor Recreation: A hometown prescription to end the adventure gap 

A2: Centering Reciprocity in Land Trust and Indigenous Community Relationships
Space for Nature & People
A3: A Both-And Approach: How we can address our housing needs and meet conservation goals

A4: From the Ground Up: Partnering with public housing residents to build equitable green spaces
Innovation, Design, & Resilience
A5: Designing for Open Space and Housing: Nature-sensitive designs and bylaws in southeastern Massachusetts

A6: Wood-First Housing and Community Investment in the Northern Forest
Communication, Coordination, & Collaboration
A7: Collaborating at the Regional Scale: A case study from Maine

A8: Network Science and Practice for More Power-full Partnerships
Afternoon Sessions – 1:30 to 2:45 PM
Foundations & Connections
B1: Living Earth: Rehumanizing conservation through collective vision and Lo-TEK 

B2: How Can You Engage with Underserved Forest Landowners?

B3: The Map, the Territory, and Love as a Catalyst for Action
Space for Nature & People
B4: Tools for Farmland Conservation and Farm Viability: How conservation groups can support farm businesses on protected farmland

B5: Affordable Housing and Conservation: Finding alignment, purpose, and added capacity through partnership
Innovation, Design, & Resilience
B6: Bioregional Mapping: Conservation planning at the nexus of land, water, and communities
Communication, Coordination, & Collaboration
B7: Network Impact: Findings and approaches from the field

B8: Coordinating Across Geographies, Scales, Strategies, and Sectors to Improve Conservation Outcomes for All
Closing Plenary – 3 to 4 PM

Housing and Conservation: Building coalitions to shape policy and balance land use – Hosted by the Northeast Forest Network 

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2025 RCP Network Gathering SESSIONS

The 2025 RCP Network Gathering features 16 dynamic sessions, plus a special Closing Plenary, along four related tracks: Foundations & Connections; Space for Nature & People; Innovation, Design, & Resilience; and Communication, Coordination, & Collaboration. Nearly half of the sessions will feature information and training centered around new tools, lessons, or practices that support diverse partnerships. Further, several sessions will center themes of justice and belonging and elevate perspectives of historically underrepresented in the conservation movement.  

* Asterisks indicate those sessions focused on tools, lessons, and practices to strengthen partnership leadership, planning, and participation. 

Session A – 10:45 AM to 12 PM
Session B – 1:30 PM to 2:45 PM
Closing Plenary – 3 PM to 4 PM
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2025 RCP Network Gathering KEYNOTE

Earth, Land, Home—A Universal View  

Charles Liu, PhD

Our planet, our biosphere, and our humanity connect with one another in beautiful and intricate ways. As we seek solutions to the social and environmental challenges facing our human communities, it becomes increasingly clear that we must incorporate our awareness of these deep universal connections that pull, often invisibly, on us all. Astronomy—perhaps the most universal of all human endeavors—can provide examples, both from the scientific insight of its discoveries and the social impact of its practice, of how we might apply both cosmic and down-to-earth perspectives to find just and lasting answers to our hardest questions about land use, housing, and conservation. 

Charles Liu

Charles Liu is professor of astrophysics at the City University of New York’s College of Staten Island, an associate with the Department of Astrophysics at the American Museum of Natural History, and the president of the Astronomical Society of New York. His research focuses on starburst galaxies, supermassive black holes, and the star formation history of the universe. In addition to his research publications, he has also published eleven books about astronomy and science for general audiences, including most recently The Handy Quantum Physics Answer Book and The Cosmos Explained, and he hosts the podcast “The LIUniverse with Dr. Charles Liu,” currently in its fifth season. Before beginning his current positions, Charles earned degrees at Harvard and the University of Arizona and held post-doctoral positions at Columbia and Kitt Peak National Observatory. In 2020, he was named a Legacy Fellow of the American Astronomical Society (AAS), and in 2024 he was awarded the AAS Education Prize. He and his wife have three children. 

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2025 RCP Network Gathering SPEAKERS

The 2025 RCP Network Gathering features nearly 50 inspiring speakers with expertise ranging from conservation to housing to sustaining diverse partnerships.

Meet This Year’s Speakers  

Maura Adams is the director of community investment for the Northern Forest Center, a regional nonprofit connecting people, the economy, and the forest landscape. She has been with the Center since 2013 and currently oversees their real estate portfolio and its work bringing capacity to rural communities. Previous work includes campus sustainability leadership at St. Paul’s School and green building consulting for the Jordan Institute. She has a master’s degree from the Yale School of the Environment and lives off-grid on conserved land in Deerfield, NH.
Jennifer Albertine is the director of climate and land justice for the Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust. Before joining the land trust in 2021, she spent two decades in academia teaching and researching about the environment through the lens of social justice, and she holds a PhD in this field. She is committed to changing the trajectory of conservation to recenter and return land stewardship to Indigenous people who have been stewarding this land for millennia.
Robert Bell is a Boston Housing Authority’s green infrastructure deployment manager who thrives on connecting with people, our environment, and our shared “human mission” to make the world a bit better each day. He has two decades of experience implementing sustainability programs and projects related to energy, water, and waste management. With a master’s degree in water resource management and experience in LEED certification, decarbonization, circular economy, and climate resilience, he provides integrated resource management solutions across multiple industries.
Katie Blake is a conservation biologist with over 20 years of experience in landscape ecology, environmental outreach, conservation planning, and scientific research. In her role as regional conservationist at Highstead, she supports RCPs across the Northeast in their efforts to increase the pace and scale of conservation through capacity building, network coordination, and leadership of various landscape-scale initiatives. She holds a master’s degree in conservation biology from Antioch University New England. At home, she delights in tending to her homestead with her husband Jeremy and daughters Tziporah and Tahlia. 
Brett Butler is an international expert on forest ownership who has authored over 100 articles and reports on the subject. As part of the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research Station, Forest Inventory and Analysis program, he coordinates the National Woodland Owner Survey and co-directs the Family Forest Research Center. In addition, he oversees the Timber Products Output survey for the Northern U.S. He earned his BS from the University of Connecticut and his PhD from Oregon State University. He lives in Amherst, MA.
Chris Carr is a conservationist, educator, and multi-disciplinary artist. Pro-human, anti-colonial, delusionally optimistic about human potential.
Mikael Cejtin is employed by The Nature Conservancy as lead coordinator of the Staying Connected Initiative (SCI), a cross-border, public-private partnership numbering over 75 organizations. He serves as the SCI partnership’s primary manager and spokesperson. His responsibilities include facilitating and promoting cross-boundary and regional collaboration to conserve and restore ecological connectivity in northeastern North America through an integrated approach involving science, land protection, barrier mitigation, planning, policy, and outreach.
Buzz Constable is an attorney focused on land conservation and environmental implications of land use. He remains involved with the Environmental League of Massachusetts, Lincoln Land Conservation Trust, Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition, and Metropolitan Area Planning Council. He has been an active member of the Land Trust Alliance, Boston Bar Association, Greater Boston Real Estate Board, and has served on numerous boards and commissions. He spends time engaged in civic life in Lincoln, MA, and recreating in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem.
Erin De Vries co-directs the amazing team of ecologists, systems thinkers, and communication specialists at the Vermont River Conservancy (VRC). As conservation director, she constructs conservation partnerships and leads strategic visioning for protection and restoration of waterways and watersheds. With a background in Lake Champlain and Great Lakes watershed work, she began at VRC as a river steward in 2021. She loves meeting landowners, watershed partners, and municipal planners alongside a stream or wetland to hash out how to enhance special places, protect assets, and promote community resilience.
Kathleen Doherty is a farmland easement support specialist. After earning a Master of Regional Planning at UMass Amherst, she completed a year of service through TerraCorps, then spent a year working at a regional land trust in New Hampshire. Before joining American Farmland Trust (AFT), she spent six years directing the farmland conservation and stewardship program at Connecticut Farmland Trust. As a member of the AFT New England team, she works across Massachusetts to increase the pace of farmland protection by assisting the conservation community.
Jennifer Dubois is the vice president of land conservation at The Trustees of Reservations, a Massachusetts-based organization, where she leads the statewide land conservation program and oversees the conservation restriction stewardship program. She has dedicated her career to land conservation, working with land trusts in various capacities to conserve land and manage fundraising campaigns. Prior to The Trustees, she spent time as a consultant and worked with the Westport Land Conservation Trust and The Nature Conservancy in Rhode Island. 
Pam Ellis (Hassanamisco Nipmuc) is retired from the practice of law and now serves as the principal and owner of Chagwas Cultural Resource Consulting, LLC. She is an advocate and activist for Aboriginal rights and Indigenous land stewardship. She holds a law degree and certificate in federal Indian law from Arizona State University and was the 2023-2024 Distinguished Indigenous Artist and Scholar in Residence at Bunker Hill Community College.
Kurt Gaertner has been at the forefront of state land use policy, developing and implementing smart growth policies and programs for over ten years. He serves as sustainable development director at the Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs and lectures at Boston University’s City Planning & Urban Affairs Program. He helped create the Massachusetts Sustainable Development Principles and Smart Growth/Smart Energy Toolkit and has trained local officials through the Community Preservation Institute, focusing on sustainable development and urban planning.
Andre Strongbearheart Gaines/Roberson, Jr., is a citizen of the Nipmuc people. He serves as a cultural steward for his Tribe, is a father, public speaker, traditional dancer, Indigenous activist, carpenter, and educator. His work focuses on bringing traditional knowledge back to Indigenous peoples. He is a board member of Native Land Conservancy and works alongside various land trusts to create cultural inventory reports, and fights to make the LandBack movement visible. His work is grounded in restoring balance between everyday life and traditional values while navigating the colonial systems we live in.
Melissa Green is Trust for Public Land’s senior program manager for the Massachusetts Parks for People Program. She works with community groups and public agencies to design and implement climate resilient spaces that meet community needs. Previously, she worked as a landscape designer at Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates and Weston & Sampson. She holds a Master in Landscape Architecture from the Harvard Graduate School of Design. In her free time, she loves to hike, canoe, explore with her husband, daughter, and dog, and host friends and family for meals.
Melissa Hunter Gurney is an educator, conservationist, and writer whose advocacy-based work explores the connection between nature, art, and community. She is co-founder of the Lo—TEK Institute, home to the Living Earth Curriculum & Digital Database, and Black Land Ownership, a grassroots initiative addressing systemic barriers to land access. Both projects collaborate with schools, organizations, and institutions, and are launching an ancestral artist residency in New York State. Her writing, which centers the experiences of Pan-American women and artists, has been widely published.
Katherine Hollins is the owner of Welsummer, a conservation and sustainability consulting practice that provides guidance to nonprofits, governments, and mission-focused organizations seeking to increase their impacts through improved audience engagement. The former director of the Sustaining Family Forests Initiative at the Yale School of the Environment, she taught Tools for Engaging Landowners Effectively workshops and co-authored “Engaging Landowners in Conservation: A Complete Guide to Designing Programs and Communications.” She has an MS in Behavior, Education and Communication from the University of Michigan.
Phil Huffman is senior vice president, Regional and Global Programs, for the Quebec-Labrador Foundation (QLF). He leads QLF’s work on transborder ecological connectivity conservation and restoration in northeastern North America as part of the Staying Connected Initiative, a dynamic collaboration of government agencies, NGOs, and other interests. He has been a conservation leader in the Northeast for more than three decades, with extended stints with The Nature Conservancy and the National Park Service.
Darren Josey started First Seed Sown to take his 15-plus years of outdoor recreation and outdoor industry experience with brands like Vibram, Polartec, and NEMO Equipment, and dedicate himself to sharing this knowledge with other BIPOC businesspeople and municipalities to increase access to the outdoors for all. The adventure gap is very real when it comes to outdoor participation; however, it’s even more extreme when you look at who is working at outdoor industry companies. Our first municipal program launched in May with The Great Malden Outdoors.
Hayley Kolding is an ecologist and conservation specialist who joined Vermont River Conservancy’s (VRC) staff from the Field Naturalist Program at the University of Vermont in 2023. Her experience with river and stream conservation includes projects at home in New England and farther afield in the Pacific Northwest. As VRC’s southern Vermont conservation manager, she joins with communities in the Connecticut River Watershed to tackle the same question she asked out West: With limited resources and diverse ecological and cultural goals, which riparian areas should we protect first—and how?
Melina Lodge has served as the executive director of the Housing Network of Rhode Island (HNRI) since 2015. She also directs HNRI’s affiliated nonprofit, the Community Housing Land Trust of Rhode Island. She is responsible for working with HNRI’s membership and allied organizations to develop and advance HNRI’s advocacy agenda. Prior to her work with HNRI, she held positions at RIHousing and the WARM Center. She holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and a Master in Community Planning from the University of Rhode Island.
Connie Manes consults with conservation nonprofits in the Northeast, specializing in standards and practices and land trust accreditation. She is executive director of the Kent Land Trust and a member of the Litchfield Hills Greenprint Collaborative Regional Conservation Partnership. She serves as circuit rider for the Land Trust Alliance assisting small and all-volunteer land trusts, and volunteers on Kent’s Conservation Commission. She holds an MPA from Pace University and JD from New York University School of Law.
Laura Marx is the climate solutions scientist for The Nature Conservancy in Massachusetts. She leads the chapter’s work on natural climate solutions including better management and protection of forests, wetlands, and farms to reduce and remove carbon emissions. She leads the Green Mountains to Hudson Highlands Linkage (also known as the Berkshire Wildlife Linkage) Partnership, a Regional Conservation Partnership. She grew up in the Allegheny Mountains of Western Pennsylvania and studied old growth forests in upper Michigan for her PhD dissertation at Michigan State University. She has made Western Massachusetts her home for nearly 20 years.
Melissa Ocana is climate adaptation coordinator at UMass Extension, where she promotes capacity and network building for climate practitioners. She convenes several communities of practice, focusing on peer-to-peer learning, climate collaboratives, and ecosystems. While based in Massachusetts, she also supports national efforts, such as the National Adaptation Forum and Climate Adaptation Fund. Previously, she ran a capacity building and grants program for New Jersey environmental nonprofits. She has also been assistant to the climate change policy advisor at the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Shes has MS in wildlife science from Oregon State University.
Curtis Ogden is a senior associate with Interaction Institute for Social Change (IISC), where he has worked since 2005. He has extensive experience supporting multi-interest holder networks and complex intra-organizational change efforts, with a focus on transforming food, public health, conservation, and economic development systems at various levels. He writes about networks and social change on IISC’s blog and NetworkWeaver.com. He also serves on the advisory board of Beautiful Ventures, The Transformations Community, and FLOW: For the Love of Water. He is originally from Flint, MI.
Nancy Perlson is a conservation consultant with over three decades of experience in community development, conservation and environmental stewardship. Based in Maine’s High Peaks Region, she has offered her expertise in grant writing and managing conservation, recreation, and community development projects to prominent organizations such as the High Peaks Initiative and The Wilderness Society. Her career highlights include serving for 18 years as executive director of the Rangeley Lakes Heritage Trust, where she transformed the organization into a respected regional land trust.
Jon Peterson is director of the Network for Landscape Conservation (NLC), and has overseen the Catalyst Fund since its inception in 2019. He has worked to advance collaborative landscape conservation and stewardship for nearly 20 years. Prior to NLC he coordinated the South Mountain Partnership, a regional landscape initiative in Pennsylvania, and spent three years on the staff of the Boston-based Kendall Foundation. He is also a senior fellow of the Environmental Leadership Program. A graduate of Middlebury College and the Yale School of the Environment, he lives in Western Massachusetts with his wife and their two little ones.
Karen Pettinelli has a background of 14 years in agriculture and seven years in agricultural natural resource management and program management. She recently completed a MS in Agriculture, Food, and Environment at the Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, where she focused her studies on watershed-based agricultural planning projects to support regional climate resilience in New England. She has worked as an agricultural policy research consultant for organizations such as American Farmland Trust and began as a principal natural resource planner for the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District in August 2024.
Jennifer Plowden is the New England senior program manager at the Land Trust Alliance where she oversees program and service delivery to over 250 land trusts. She builds relationships with land trust practitioners, partners, donors, and funders to understand and respond to the pressing needs of the community. She previously led research on the economics of land conservation, parks, and trails for the Trust for Public Land, served on the board of the Orono Land Trust, and worked at Blue Hill Heritage Trust. Outside of work, she volunteers on her local land trust’s development committee and city’s Bike and Pedestrian Advisory Committee.
Rahul Ramesh (they/them) is a project manager in the Planning and Development Department at Boston Housing Authority where they focus on projects ranging from open space redevelopment to large scale affordable housing development. Their open space projects include building climate resilient, modern, and welcoming amenities for public housing residents as well as advancing open space planning efforts to gather more data and test tactical interventions in community spaces. They hold an MA in Urban and Environmental Policy and Planning from Tufts University. In their free time, they love to ride their bike around Boston and practice sewing.
Simon Rucker formerly worked in the legal department for The Trust for Public Land and for a New York City entertainment law firm and has been the executive director of the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust since 2014. He is a member of the Portland Land Bank Commission and lives in Portland with his wife and two children.
Kate Sayles is the director of the Rhode Island Land Trust Council where she champions conservation through advocacy and coalition building for the state’s 50-plus land trusts. She’s helped lead multiple legislative victories in the state General Assembly and is particularly passionate about forests and farmland access. She is also the co-coordinator of the Rhode Island Woodland Partnership RCP. When she’s not roaming the halls of the Statehouse, she performs in Rhode Island’s longest running sketch comedy group, the Empire Revue. 
Gus Seelig is the founding executive director of Vermont Housing Conservation Board. He worked with Senator Leahy to implement Farms for the Future, which led to the national Farm Protection Program. As a result of his leadership, Vermont now has some 460,000 acres of conserved land, including over 800 conserved farms, 16,000 affordable homes, conserved town forests and new state parks, and multiple additions to state forest and Wildlife Management Areas. Much of this work has been implemented by supporting a non-profit network to achieve Vermont’s land use and community development vision of compact settlement surrounded by a working landscape.
Markelle Smith serves as director of the Connecticut River Watershed Partnership, a network of public and private partners formerly known as the Friends of Conte, working to cultivate and sustain a healthy Connecticut River watershed for all. She enjoys convening teams with diverse skills to solve challenges that are too great for any one group to tackle singularly. Originally from Michigan, she is now proud to have spent more than half her life in New England, trading the lakes and dunes of her native state for the rivers and hills of Western Massachusetts, though she does admit to regularly missing “the big lake.”
Karen Strong is the principal of Strong Outcomes, a consulting company that supports communities and organizations in conserving land, water, plants, and wildlife. With 25 years of experience in conservation, she is committed to science-based decision-making and believes that conservation will only be effective if we meaningfully engage our communities. She co-founded the Yes and Nature Collaborative, which blends concepts from science, communication, and improvisational theater to help conservationists better understand their audiences and communicate more effectively.
Emmalyn Terracciano is a research fellow in the Family Forest Research Center at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She received her BS in wildlife from Purdue University and her MS in Urban and Regional Planning from the University of Texas at San Antonio. Her current research focuses on underserved landowners, family forest owners in island areas of the U.S., and participatory action research with Indigenous forest owners. 
Jonathan Thompson is the director of Harvard Forest. His research focuses on long-term and broad-scale changes in forest ecosystems, with an emphasis on quantifying how land use affects forest ecosystem processes and services. He also leads the New England Landscape Futures project, which collaborates with stakeholders from throughout the region to build and evaluate scenarios that show how land use choices and climate change could shape the landscape over the next 50 years. He holds a PhD in forest ecology.
Liz Thompson is managing editor of From the Ground Up, serves on the board of Northeast Wilderness Trust, and is chair of the Northeastern Old Growth Conference for 2025. In her work with The Nature Conservancy, Vermont Land Trust, University of Vermont, and Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities, she co-authored Wetland, Woodland, Wildland: A Guide to the Natural Communities of Vermont; Vermont Conservation Design; and Wildlands in New England. She enjoys walking in the woods, often with a camera, noticing the beauty in the ordinary.
Michelle Tinger joined the Southeastern Regional Planning and Economic Development District in 2023 where she provides technical assistance on greenhouse gas reduction, climate adaptation strategies, floodplain management, open space planning, zoning bylaw updates, and brownfields cleanups. She particularly enjoys using data-driven, place-based strategies to balance community development with environmental conservation. She holds an MS in Urban Planning and Community Development from UMass Boston.
Kimberly Toney (Hassanamisco Nipmuc) is the inaugural coordinating curator of Native American and Indigenous Collections at the John Carter Brown and the John Hay libraries at Brown University. Previously, she was head of Readers’ Services and director of Indigenous Initiatives at the American Antiquarian Society in Worcester, Massachusetts. She holds an MA in Historic Preservation from the University of Delaware and regularly serves as an advisor or consultant to cultural institutions across Nipmuc homelands in Massachusetts.
Laura Vachula is the communications manager at the Family Forest Research Center. She’s spent more than a decade working with public land organizations to promote conservation messages and communicate science with vast audiences. She has a BA in environmental science and policy from Smith College and is passionate about blending creative communications with environmental stewardship. 
Liz Willey serves as the coordinator for the Northeast Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Landscape Wildlife Conservation Committee, which provides leadership on interjurisdictional landscape conservation needs and opportunities in the Northeast. At USFWS, she has also worked closely with partners in the Highlands region and the Connecticut River Watershed. She previously served on the faculty at Antioch University New England where she worked with graduate students on applied conservation biology efforts and led broad-scale collaborative conservation planning for at-risk species in the Northeast.
Mike Wilson serves as senior program director for the Northern Forest Center, a regional non-profit committed to creating bold possibilities that give rise to vibrant rural communities across the Northern Forest region of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York. As a founding member of the Center’s staff, his expertise ranges from forest-based culture and heritage to regional organizing, outdoor recreation, fundraising, rural community investment and, most recently, housing development. He currently oversees the Center’s broad range of community investment and housing work in Maine.
Keetu Winter’s work focuses on the intersection of place-based living, regenerative finance, regenerative food and material systems transformation, and systemic and cultural change. She is committed to building community resilience through tools and methods that foster connectivity and support the health and dynamism of intact ecosystems, with a focus on giving all life the right to thrive.
Faren Wolter is a strategic conservation leader with over 20 years of experience integrating social sciences into conservation initiatives to balance the needs of wildlife with the needs of people. She has worked extensively with Tribes, federal and state agencies, NGOs, and communities to build trust, grow partnerships, foster inclusive decision-making, and drive behavior change to improve outcomes in natural resources management. She leads the Chesapeake WILD Program, a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service multi-state initiative advancing conservation through non-regulatory grants and a diverse network of partners.
Leigh Youngblood served as executive director of Mount Grace Land Conservation Trust, where she co-founded the North Quabbin Regional Landscape Partnership, the model for the RCP Network. A long-time advocate of equitable, community-driven conservation, she guided a range of land and food system initiatives and co-founded TerraCorps. She co-chaired the Massachusetts Commission on Financing Forest Conservation and served on the Land Trust Alliance’s Conservation Defense Advisory Council. Now a consultant with Interim Executive Solutions, she integrates collaboration, interpersonal neurobiology, and equity across conservation, leadership, and community health. 

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2025 RCP Network Gathering ABOUT

The RCP Network Gathering

The annual Regional Conservation Partnership (RCP) Network Gathering is a FREE, one-day conference that brings together people advancing collaborative landscape conservation along with their allies and advocates. The Gathering is a place to connect with colleagues, meet new partners, share successes and challenges, and learn new skills. This event supports the growth of RCPs, promotes cross-disciplinary partnerships, and helps advance the pace and practice of landscape conservation throughout the Northeast and beyond.

At the 2024 Gathering, we asked the question, What makes a healthy community? This year, we will explore the crucial intersection of conservation, housing, and justice, and the importance of strong partnerships in our ongoing work.

Regional Conservation Partnerships

Regional Conservation Partnerships (RCPs) help to increase the pace and scale of land conservation across municipal, state, and international boundaries. Together, we are building reciprocal relationships, sharing and scaling our work, and helping to foster more resilient and just communities.

Over the past few decades, people throughout the Northeast have organized and developed RCPs to increase the pace and scale of collaborative landscape conservation. Highstead coordinates, researches, and convenes RCPs in networks, helping their members and RCPs innovate and accomplish more with regional partners, including foundations, higher education, conservation organizations, and state and federal agencies. 

Since forming, and with Highstead’s support, the RCP Network has helped RCPs conserve more than 35,000 acres across the region and secure more than $23 million from foundation grants and federal funding. At least 12 new RCPs have been established and more than 25 have advanced one or more stages of development through direct Network engagement.

Highstead

Highstead, a regional conservation and ecological stewardship nonprofit based in Redding, CT, serves as the host partner of the RCP Network and organizes the annual RCP Network Gathering. Highstead supports the Wildlands, Woodlands, Farmlands & Communities vision which calls for the permanent protection of 80% of New England as forests and farmlands by 2060 to ensure a thriving landscape and to support the communities who depend on it.

Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Justice (DEIJ)

We are committed to addressing injustices perpetrated on Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and other historically marginalized communities. Since 2021, the RCP Network Gathering has centered on land justice. Any path to a healthier, more climate-resilient, and biodiverse future requires collaboration among diverse people and sectors to ensure everyone benefits. We acknowledge that the RCP Network Gathering has yet to fully reflect the diversity of people and interests that need to be involved in these discussions. We commit to continuing to build strong relationships with BIPOC individuals, members of the LGBTQIA+ community, and other historically underrepresented groups to elevate areas of shared interest toward a sustainable and just future for all.

“The Gathering is centered on justice and looking at conservation through that lens. It puts us where the conservation movement is going and gives people the opportunity to understand their work in a broader context. And it doesn’t have to fall into a strict definition of an RCP; you get to learn about all sorts of collaborative efforts. You’re with a group of people who understands that.”
Erin Witham, Downeast Conservation Network

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2025 RCP Network Gathering PRE-CONFERENCE EVENTS

Wednesday, November 5 

RCP Network Coordinators and Leaders Meeting 
12:30 – 4 PM  
Amherst Room, Campus Center, 10th Floor, UMass Amherst 

The RCP Coordinators and Leaders meeting is an opportunity to lean on one another to share successes and challenges of leading Regional Conservation Partnerships, get reinspired for increasingly complex work ahead, and gain new perspectives to bring back to their partnerships and regions. This year’s meeting will be facilitated by Karen Strong, principal of Strong Outcomes. It will include time for networking, peer exchange on topics of interest to leaders, and a two-hour training led by consultant Leigh Youngblood, will provide a collaboration framework that integrates mediation, negotiation, and principles of neurobiology. 

If you lead an RCP and want to learn more, please contact Katie Blake at kblake@highstead.net.

A Convening of Environmental and Community Activists who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color
6 – 8:30 PM  
Amherst Room, Campus Center, 10th Floor, UMass Amherst 

The RCP Network is hosting a special program by and for community and environmental activists who identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) and their allies. The evening, facilitated by Kolu Zigbi Consulting, Inc., will provide participants with an opportunity to network and connect around the theme of land justice. Drinks and dinner will be provided. For more information and to register, contact William Labich (they/them) at blabich@highstead.net. 

Thursday, November 6 

LGBTQIA+ Dinner  
Immediately following the conclusion of the Gathering
Amherst restaurant (location to be determined)

All LGBTQIA+ individuals are invited to socialize over dinner at a local restaurant following the conclusion of the 2025 RCP Network Gathering. To register, contact William Labich (they/them) at blabich@highstead.net. 

Return to the 2025 RCP Network Gathering Event Page

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2025 RCP Network Gathering, TRAVEL AND ACCOMMODATIONS

The 2025 RCP Network Gathering will be held at the UMass Amherst Campus Center at 1 Campus Center Way, Amherst, MA 01002. We look forward to seeing you there!

Directions to the Campus Center

Click here for directions to the Campus Center parking garage.

From the Parking Garage: As you enter the Parking Garage, proceed down the ramp and park on Level 2. An enclosed entranceway leads directly from Level 2 onto the Campus Center Concourse (Level 2). As you enter the Concourse, you will see information signs directing you to the RCP Network Gathering registration. If you are a hotel guest and looking for the Campus Center Lobby, proceed to the left, and walk past the University Store; the elevators are on the right. The Hotel Lobby is on the third floor. 

Complimentary Parking

Your license plate is automatically recorded when you enter the garage. To avoid a parking ticket, all attendees must register their vehicle before the Gathering or within 20 minutes of entering the parking garage at 1 Campus Center Way, Amherst, MA 01003. DO NOT PAY AT KIOSKS.

HOTEL GUESTS:

  • Please check into the hotel and register your vehicle at the time of check-in. This must be done within 20 minutes of arrival.

COMMUTER GUESTS:

  • Enter the following details: your name, email address, license plate number, and vehicle information. Then click “Register.”

**Need help with parking registration? Just stop by the registration table. We’re happy to help!**

    Hotels

    Click here to reserve a discounted room at Hotel UMass. Discounted rooms will be available until October 8 or until they are filled.

    Click here for a list of additional hotels.

    Food Accommodations & Local Restaurants 

    Breakfast and lunch will be available at the Gathering, including vegetarian and gluten-free options. You may also purchase additional items at the UMass food court located on the 1st floor of the Campus Center.

    Click here for a list of local restaurants.

    Return to the 2025 RCP Network Gathering Event Page

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    Collaborating for Conservation: Insights from the 2025 NEAFWA Conference

    Regional Conservation Partnerships (RCPs) exist because partners can be more productive when they work together. This past April, four RCPs and several partners came together at the 80th annual Northeast Fish & Wildlife Conference, sponsored by the Northeast Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies (NEAFWA), to present their efforts to advance land protection, management, and research through the RCP Network.

    Their symposium, “Doing More by Working Together: Research, Conservation, and Management of Fish and Wildlife by Regional Conservation Partnerships and their Local Partners,” showcased the impactful work of four RCPs: Cold Hollow to Canada, Blackstone Watershed Collaborative, Litchfield Hills Greenprint Collaborative, and Hudson to Housatonic RCP (H2H). Nine speakers shared their insights, highlighting the importance of local partnerships in landscape-scale wildlife conservation.

    RCP coordinators and partners present at the symposium (left to right): Budd Veverka, Sara Barker, Connie Manes, Stefanie Covino, JoLeisa Cramer, Julia Rogers, Katherine Blake, Donna Merrill, Tim Duclos.

    NEAFWA plays a pivotal role in the conservation of fish and wildlife resources across thirteen states, six Canadian provinces, and the District of Columbia. This quasi-governmental organization serves to enhance cooperation and understanding among its members by fostering communication and collaboration among various stakeholders, including government agencies, non-governmental organizations, academic institutions, and local communities.

    Budd Veverka, Director of Land Management at the Mianus River Gorge and President of the Northeast Section of The Wildlife Society, had the vision for the RCP symposium. As the principal investigator for a black bear monitoring project in the Hudson to Housatonic region, he has seen firsthand the role RCPs play in supporting wildlife research and landscape conservation. “I wanted to bring leaders from RCPs across the Northeast to speak to the work they’ve done on research, management, and conservation of wildlife, and position them in front of an audience of fish and wildlife experts to create new connections,” he said.

    “RCPs are local engines of conservation that collectively work together to effect regional change,” said Katie Blake, H2H Coordinator and Regional Conservationist at Highstead. “Our state and federal fish and wildlife partners are critical in this work.”

    Connie Manes, Executive Director of the Kent Land Trust and lead partner of the Greenprint Collaborative said, “It was terrific to be able to present to what was for most of us a new audience. Not only did we demonstrate the leveraging power of working within RCPs and the larger RCP Network, we opened the doors to new interface and proactive partnership.” Similarly, Donna Merrill, Executive Director of the Pollinator Pathway, reported that it was well worth the trip to New Hampshire. “The conference demonstrated a core RCP principle about the power of learning from each other by connecting in dialogue,” she said.

    The symposium was Budd Veverka’s vision.

    “One of the ways RCPs are already collaborating regionally and in support of wildlife is through initiatives like the Northeast Bird Habitat Conservation Initiative (NBHCI),” said Blake. The NBHCI is a collaborative effort between the RCP Network, Audubon groups, Highstead, and the Cornell Lab of Ornithology aimed at expanding land protection through bird conservation.

    “There are so many partnerships dedicated to helping conserve our landscape in so many ways,” said JoLeisa Cramer, one of the presenters. “Each of us works every day on our little slice of the puzzle, and this symposium really helped put into perspective how it all connects. Our web isn’t just impacting our daily work, but the larger-scale work of ecology in the Northeast.”

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    Coming Together to Conserve Land for People and Wildlife

    Northwestern Connecticut is one of New England’s most iconic landscapes, home to rolling hills, verdant forests, vast wetlands, cold water lakes, meandering rivers, and an abundance of both residential and migratory wildlife. Those seeking a challenge can summit the state’s tallest mountains while fishermen cast their flies for trout and locavores relish the region’s vibrant food scene. For those who love to be surrounded by nature, this is an ideal place to live, work, recreate, and raise a family.

    Members of the Northwest Connecticut Affordable Housing and Conservation Collaboration survey the future site of Haystack Woods affordable homes in Norfolk. Photo by Shana Sureck.

    But with soaring housing costs, many people—especially first-time home buyers and those on a restricted income—are being priced out. In Litchfield County, the median home sales price last month was up 9% from a year ago. In Cornwall, Kent, and many other towns, a single-family home can easily cost you upwards of a million dollars.

    “There isn’t a lot of diverse housing stock for people that are beginning homeowners, looking to rent, or seniors who are looking for step-down housing,” says Connie Manes, Executive Director of the Kent Land Trust. “There is a predominance of larger, vacation homes, but overall, there’s a lack of housing diversity, and certainly a lack of housing that’s affordable for people who are just starting out.”

    It might seem unusual to hear a conservation professional talk about the housing crisis. Indeed, when Manes began her career two decades ago, most land trusts were solely focused on land protection. And conservationists and affordable housing advocates, in specific, often perceived each other’s mission as incompatible with their own.  

    Jocelyn Ayer (left), Director of the Litchfield County Center for Housing Opportunity, and Connie Manes, Executive Director of the Kent Land Trust, lead the Collaborative group in a discussion at the Norfolk Hub. Photo credit Shana Sureck.

    “Over the years, some people have tried to use conservation organizations to drive home a NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) argument, to say, ‘I don’t want affordable housing because there’s a salamander there, or because that should be a public park,’” she says.

    But recently, with the growing climate crisis and the need to conserve enough land to ensure we have clean air, drinkable water, and species resiliency, many land trusts have begun to recognize that in order to be effective, they must develop strong partnerships to leverage funding, community support, and organizational capacity, including with folks outside the conservation field.

    “The way that land trusts operate today is very community-based,” Manes says. “Land trusts have a scope of work that is much larger than just land preservation. As non-profit organizations formed to pursue public benefit, we really want to come out front and center with our partners in town that are also looking to serve the community.”

    In early 2024, the Litchfield Hills Greenprint Collaborative, a Regional Conservation Partnership (RCP) of more than 30 partners in northwestern Connecticut, and the Litchfield County Center for Housing Opportunity, which supports affordable housing organizations, formed the Northwest Connecticut Affordable Housing and Conservation Collaboration. Their goal was to create a network within local communities to find common ground and opportunities for collaboration in both conservation and affordable housing projects. More than 60 representatives from over 40 organizations joined the collaboration, including members of Boards of Selectmen, Planning and Zoning Commissions, conservation organizations, and housing organizations such as Habitat for Humanity. Over the next several months, they drafted a purpose statement, defined goals, and developed strategies for assisting local communities, including a mapping tool to help towns evaluate parcels suitable for conservation and affordable housing development.

    Land trusts have a scope of work that is much larger than just land preservation.
    There are ways that we can work together to make this place better.

    The group’s purpose statement is simple and straightforward: Healthy communities need both affordable housing and land conservation. But Manes, who serves as co-facilitator of the collaborative on behalf of the Housatonic Valley Association, cautions that not all organizations might be at a point where they’re ready to jump to this kind of vision. While the collaboration brought together organizations who may have been unaccustomed to partnering with each other, many of the individual participants knew each other and had previously worked together. These pre-existing relationships gave the group a head start in building the trust required for collaboration, says Manes.

    “I think coming to the truth of the purpose statement would be important for any group trying to replicate this work,” she says. “We talked about our communities; we explored places of alignment in our visions; we thought about many ways we could work together, including by being a voice of support for each other’s projects. And then going forward it’s like, ‘Okay, well what can we do? How can we problem-solve to make both affordable housing and conservation happen in a way that’s beneficial and aligned?’”

    Collaborative Conservation

    The collaboration, which included the towns of Cornwall, Falls Village, Goshen, Kent, Norfolk, Salisbury, Sharon, and Warren, and was supported by grants from the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation and Foundation for Community Health, builds on the work of the Greenprint Collaborative, including its participation in Follow the Forest, a large landscape initiative that seeks to conserve a connected corridor of core forest from the Hudson Valley to Canada and encompasses the Greenprint’s region.

    Community members representing both affordable housing and conservation organizations discuss strategies during a Collaborative meeting at the Norfolk Hub. From left: Arlin Deboer, Sharon Housing Trust; Jonathan Doster, Sharon Land Trust; Mary Oppenheimer, Salisbury Affordable Housing Commission; and Abeth Slotnik, Salisbury Association. Photo by Shana Sureck.

    “Follow the Forest makes it easy to evaluate whether the property under consideration is core forest habitat; whether development in a certain place would be disrupting habitat in some way, depending on how that land is developed,” Manes says. “(It) informs where the linkages are between core forests, and where we might be cognizant of how wildlife is going to move through a developed area and make better decisions that way.”

    “Follow the Forest is a strategic land protection vision to help accomplish the goals and meet the multiple priorities that communities have,” echoes Isabel Bronson, Conservation Projects Coordinator at the Housatonic Valley Association, which oversees the Greenprint Collaborative. “It’s understanding where these ecologically important pieces of land are for climate resilience and where we can support communities in other ways, such as affordable housing

    Manes also credits the RCP Network for cultivating a space for people to connect around issues that cross boundaries, both real and perceived. “The RCP Network is really good at opening our minds about how we might work together, who we might work with, how to serve people, and how to live in this world together,” she said. “(It) allows a lot of people who are trying really innovative and terrific things to come together, share information, think about lessons learned, and replicate each other’s projects. It’s beyond safe; it’s a celebratory place to do that.” Manes, who previously served on the RCP Network Steering Committee, believes the RCP model enables more people to participate in their community’s future, including conservation and affordable housing, through collaboration.

    “There are ways that we can work together to make this place better,” she says. “There are still things we can talk about; there’s still a place where we can connect. And probably we align, so let’s find that place and work together. That participatory nature is unique to RCPs, to the RCP Network, and to the work we’re doing here.”

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