CLINTON LAND CONSERVATION TRUST, INC. 42nd ANNUAL MEETING OF MEMBERS   ANNUAL REPORT OF THE PRESIDENT FOR THE PERIOD OCTOBER 20, 2008 to OCTOBER 19, 2009   FINANCIAL STATUS               We started our fiscal year with investments valued at $250,470.98 and ended our fiscal year on August 31, 2009 with a cash value of all investments totaling $402,577.61. This represents a net increase in our endowment portfolio of 152,106.63.             We suffered a loss of $50,159.13 from investments in our stock and bond funds. We received $767.04 in bank CD interest. We received $3,685 in dues and $1,175 in general donations, including two large donations of $500, one from the Fishtale Restaurant and one from the Horse Council. We received $50 in donations toward the David and Alice Crosby Scholarship and $190 in donations in memory or our beloved Lynnabeth Mays, our former secretary of the Trust who died last year. We also received income of $140 from note card sales, along with $291.55 from our sale of environmental oriented Tote Bags and $40 from the sale of an owl box.             We had expenses of $9,967.71 compared with $15,361.27 last year, which represents a decrease of $5,393.56. The most significant expenditures this year were $1,563 for insurance, $799.40 for our Website and network support, $994.87 for materials used for maintenance of trails, $796 for maintenance of non-trail related properties, and printing and postage costs of $1,752.39.             Our treasurer, George Schaedler, has provided an audited annual report with exact figures and a copy of his report is attached hereto. You will notice in the report a discrepancy in the amount of $270, which will be rectified when our book keeper submits her final report, which will be posted on our Website. George has done an excellent job in his first year as our treasurer. The Board has appointed a new committee, the Finance Committee, comprised of George Schaedler, Ken McDonnell and myself. Upon the recommendation of this Committee, the Board approved the hiring of a book keeper who will be assuming the task of providing the Board with its monthly and annual treasury report. The Board hired Annie Stirna as book keeper and her transition into the job is in process.             Dave Adams, of Morgan Stanely continues to direct our investments.             Last year the Trust was named a beneficiary of the Estate of the late Eunice Carter Symonds of Clinton. Mrs. Symonds and her family were life long residents of Clinton and her ancestors can be traced back to the family of Carter Hill Road fame. In January of 2009 the Trust received a $200,000 donation from the Estate. Recently, the Trust voted to establish a new scholarship in Eunice Carter Symonds’ name to send two fourth graders and two fifth graders to the Bushy Hill Day Camp, an environmental education camp in Ivoryton, CT each summer for a two-week session. The remainder of the bequest is in CDs until the Trust develops further plans for its use to the benefit of the citizens of Clinton and its environment.                         LAND HOLDINGS               We received no additional land this past year, and the total acreage owned by the Trust remains at 793.94 The list of properties held by the Trust is attached hereto. The Trust also owns conservation easements on six privately owned parcels representing approximately 20 acres.   STEWARDSHIP OF LAND               Frank Byrne continued as chair of our Land Management Committee, which includes Vice President Dana Whitney, Robert Herlihy, George Schaedler and Greg Mirando. This committee is charged with resolving land management issues, including identifying and inspecting properties and boundaries and organizing trail clearing and other maintenance projects. Frank and his Land Management Committee, along with Board member Sally Heffernan, continued their regular monthly work days held on the second Saturday of every month from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m. at various properties as listed on our Website. The main focus this past year has been continued maintenance of trails in our main properties: Peters Memorial Woods, Jesse Buell Forest, Kenilworth Forest and Chittenden Hill Preserve. With the help of many volunteers, work was done clearing brush at the Jesse Buell Forest for the Wildlife Meadow that was created in memory of Lynnabeth Mays. In the Chittenden Hill Preserve two walkways over a stream were constructed, and a stone wall was constructed near the road at the parking lot, with professional assistance from stone mason Jeff MacMillan, who donated his time on the project. Land Management also started work on the repair of an Eagle Scout constructed bridge at Kenilworth Forest. At the Lucy Eliot property Board members Frank Byrne and Dana Whitney introduced Lucy to Seth Lerman from the Department of Agriculture. He explained to her and her family about how grant money is available to help maintain her property, which is a designated conservation easement with the CLCT, and return it to a meadow. Additionally, new signs were erected at the entrances to Peters Memorial Woods, Kenilworth Forest, Chittenden Hill Preserve and Spoonwood, a spur trail off of Peters Woods. Frank and his committee have orchestrated the volunteer efforts of neighbors of our properties and various community groups including Mr. Ali Izadi and his Morgan Environmental Club and the Lower Connecticut River Horse Council. Dana Whitney has continued his work on a draft map for the trails created last year in Kenilworth Forest. This spring, under the direction of past CLCT president and osprey czar Lou Bougie, volunteers cleared the osprey platform nests of any hazardous debris before the ospreys arrived. There were approximately a dozen fledglings on Trust platforms this year.             OUTREACH AND EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS               Sally Heffernan continued as chair of our Outreach Committee which also includes Larry Ouellette, Mike Castiglione and Judy Postemsky. This committee has been in charge of publicity and environmental education through various events throughout the year.             The 12th annual Alice and David Crosby Environmental Scholarship was awarded to Hugh Neri of Clinton. Hugh was a 2009 graduate of The Morgan School and is attending the University of Connecticut, where he plans to major in Environmental Engineering. We sponsored an information booth again this year at the Clinton Chamber of Commerce Expo.             With the help of Diana Byrne we published one newsletter in January of 2009 that was sent out to our membership. Diana has retired this year as Newsletter Editor and with much appreciation from the Board for all of her hard work. The Board is in the process of finding a new editor for the newsletter and will resume the publication of the letter in the coming year. John Pease of Networks Plus continues to maintain our Website with the help of Judy Postemsky and Frank Byrne. The Website received 1,648 visits from around the country last year, 1,321 coming from Connecticut. The Trust sponsored Ranger Ray in February, who spoke to two separate groups of children at the Indian River Complex about tracking wildlife in the snow. We sponsored the seventh annual Peeper Patrol with a fascinating and fun presentation by Chuck Annicelli and John Picard at the Indian River Sports Complex, thrilling many children with live specimens of various amphibians on display, a slide show and audio presentation of a wide variety of frogs and finally culminating in the annual expedition into the woods and vernal pool adjacent to the playing fields. We also sponsored another Connecticut Forest and Park Association Trail Day hike in Kenilworth Forest. Board members Mike Houde and Dana Skidmore attempted to hold another of the annual field trips to the Town Beach with Pierson School students but were rained out on three different occasions. They will try again next year. In July the Trust sponsored an environmental summer program at the Henry Carter Hull Library in honor of our beloved former secretary, Lynnabeth Mays. This year the presentation was by musicologist Doctor Dennis Waring from Wesleyan University entitled “From Trash to Tunes.” He demonstrated how it is possible to create music using ordinary objects frequently thrown away as trash. At the conclusion of the presentation, he had members of the young crowd volunteer for a band playing spoons, maracas, a washboard and a washtub base fiddle, to the delight of everyone there. Board member Dana Skidmore conducted another ecology camp this past summer for children ages 7 to 10 at the Town Beach and at our Peters Memorial Woods through the Park and Recreation Department and the Trust contributed some supplies and camp tee-shirts   MEMBERSHIP               Our secretary, Sue Savitt, has updated our membership and continues to keep it current. Our total number of active memberships of individuals, families and businesses who renew annually, plus the life memberships is 174 The breakdown of memberships is as follows:   Individual Members: 38 Family Members: 58 Life Members: 76 Business Members: 2   Our membership categories continue to be as follows:   Individual Annual ($15) Family Annual ($25) Business Annual ($40) Individual Life ($100) Family Life ($150)   At last year’s Annual Meeting, the Board voted to change its bylaws to expand its Board of Directors by three board members, each for three year terms. Three new Board positions were filled at the Meeting to make up a Board of 12 members.   PRESIDENT’S COMMENTS   A Word of Thanks:             I want to thank our former president Ken McDonnell for his fourteen years service as president of the CLCT. During his tenure as president, Ken guided the Trust with his thoughtful insights, leadership and legal expertise. He has continued to serve as a Board member during this past year and will continue for what we hope will be a long time to come.   Volunteers:             I’d like to take a moment to comment on the importance of our volunteers. The Trust has benefitted throughout its existence from numerous community members who donate their time and talents helping with trail maintenance, construction of bridges, plank walks, osprey platforms, creating new trails, and a host of other tasks. Additionally, the Trust has been the recipient of a variety of professional services rendered free of charge over the years. The Board members could not possibly fulfill the Trust’s mission without the hours and hours of time donated by such dedicated volunteers. We extend our sincere thanks to all who have given of themselves to ensure the preservation of and increase the public’s access to our town’s beautiful and various natural resources.   Education:             I would also like to comment on the importance of the Trust’s education mission. Environmental education of children is one of the most important means of protecting the future of our natural resources. Children are naturally curious about their world and love the opportunity to explore and learn about the natural environment. The Trust has an opportunity to increase in Clinton’s children their interest in the natural world in which they live—what’s right in their back yard or just down the road—through  initiatives that bring kids outside and get them involved in hands-on learning. These children are the citizens of tomorrow that will carry the mission forward and pass it down to their own children. Among the Native American tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy to this day, when councils are held, the members consider the affect their decisions will have on the next seven generations before taking action. This careful consideration of future generations strikes me as a sound guiding principal for any actions in any government or civic organizations, including those of the Clinton Land Trust. This is why I view our education mission as one of the most important ways in which the Trust can influence the future of Clinton’s natural resources and the quality of life they provide.   Respectfully submitted, Michael J. Houde President of the Clinton Land Conservation Trust, Inc. October 19, 2009