“I felt like I belonged there.” Remembering our friend and a KELT founder, Tom Barrington
The Kennebec Estuary Land Trust mourns the passing of one of our founders, a longtime volunteer, and dear friend, Tom Barrington. Having worked beside Tom across my career at KELT, it’s an honor to have the opportunity to share how his knowledgeable guidance, steadfastness, and sweet disposition shaped the organization that KELT is today.
Tom at Bonyun Preserve
Tom at Higgins Mountain
Tom Barrington often said that the one constancy of his life was being outdoors. In an interview about his inspiration to be a part of founding a land trust in the Kennebec Estuary, Tom said, “It was an opportunity to go out and just be in the woods for the sake of being in the woods. I felt like I belonged there.” If Tom felt at home in the woods, he channeled his passion into shaping a local community non-profit that would protect the wild places he loved most. From the earliest beginnings of KELT, formally named the Lower Kennebec Regional Land Trust, Tom dedicated time and his skills as a Yale-educated, Bath Iron Works-employed engineer to supporting the land trust’s growth and development. He served as KELT’s second Board President, was a decades-long presence on the Board of Directors, chaired several committees, logged thousands of hours as a volunteer, and generously donated funds to support KELT’s mission.
“To me, as a fellow founder and Board of Directors member, Tom was for many years a mentor,” reflected Jack Witham, who continues to serve on KELT’s Board and chair the Land Acquisition Committee, “Tom had an ever-present optimism about what the land trust could become and inspired others. Despite not liking our name change, he was one of the staunchest supporters of the new direction KELT was taking.”
In 2014 as then Education Coordinator, I had the pleasure of collaborating with Tom to write a newsletter article celebrating KELT’s 25th anniversary. At the time, I asked Tom to reflect on his impact on the organization and ideally, name his favorite project. In very much his style – precise and thoughtful – Tom shared not one but several accomplishments because as he put it, “it’s hard to tell which event meant most…” and that he’d “have to let the reader choose…” So, over a decade later and to follow Tom’s lead: I invite you to choose, or better yet to simply celebrate all these outstanding accomplishments, as I do.
1999 photos of Tom at Thorne Head: at mushroom cap + with John Doane
“I wear two hats, one for each head, Thorne Head and Butler Head.”
In the land trust’s spring 2000 newsletter, the headline read: Thorne Head Preserve Established. This frontpage article, authored by Tom, was the announcement many people had eagerly been awaiting. The story behind this modest headline included three years of effort raising funds ($420,000 to be exact) and awareness from neighbors, friends, and community members to conserve the 96-acre Thorne Head Preserve. It was KELT’s first major community conservation and fundraising project, and Tom joked that early on he received the feedback from a handful of naysayers, “You’re crazy, the YMCA and Hospital are already raising funds at this time, nobody’s going to give money to save trees.”
Despite this sentiment, Tom energetically helped to lead a persistent, dedicated crew of land trust supporters and neighbors to see the project to its successful completion. He was compelled by the vision to see this land remain open to residents and visitors to enjoy the woods and views of the Kennebec River and Whiskeag Creek. The land trust was honored with a Land Heritage Award at the spring 2000 Maine Land Conservation Conference. In his acceptance speech and surrounded by the project team, Tom expressed deep gratitude to the many individuals who supported KELT’s first, truly ambitious, land protection project.
Post purchase by the land trust, Tom went on to serve as a trail steward of the preserve for decades. Last summer and shortly after celebrating his 90th birthday, Tom joined KELT friends on a boat cruise to view the Thorne Head from the Kennebec River and celebrate a milestone -- the preserve’s 25th conservation anniversary!
Along with Tom’s dedication to KELT over the years, he also faithfully served on the Bath Community Forestry Committee for decades. This City committee had the task of overseeing management of the municipal land on Butler Head in north Bath. Tom was keen for Butler Head to be protected in perpetuity, and he brought up conservation of the land to the Committee and to municipal officials. His exceptional persistence and hard work paid off! Just twenty years of pursuit resulted in the City of Bath collaborating with KELT to establish a conservation easement on 142-acres at Butler Head in 2014. It will remain forever as open space, wildlife habitat, and accessible for the public to visit its forests and shores on Merrymeeting Bay.
Tom + Accreditation Musketeers
“Only answer the question that is asked – you don’t get extra points for over answering!”
Imagine: three years of preparing over 1,600 pages of documents outlining all KELT’s policies, procedures, and controls detailing how the land trust upholds nationally set standards and practices for conducting conservation work. Now imagine submitting by mail all those pages in more than half a dozen binders for in-depth, critical review by experts! Not an easy task. Today, KELT is a well-functioning and governed non-profit thanks to Tom’s leadership during our first-time process to become nationally accredited through the Land Trust Accreditation Commission.
Tom shared during the same interview about the launch of the land trust, “My role in the beginning, well pretty much all along, was to keep the machine running because I was not good at going out soliciting people and coming up with new ideas and stuff like that…[Accreditation] became an opportunity… I agreed to lead that project …We had to write policies and procedures defining the operation of the land trust… I had done that for Bath Iron Works, so I was familiar with what was expected of us.”
Tom valiantly led a small team, including former Board member Pam Tetley and dedicated office volunteer Joan Janowski, to establish a strong structure and culture of governance that was built on hundreds of volunteered hours and supported by an array of volunteers, committees, and KELT staff. Carrie Kinne, former Executive Director of KELT from 2009 – 2021 shared, “A lesson I still live by and taught to me by Tom: If a document isn’t dated, it doesn’t exist!”
These core ‘Accreditation Musketeers’ set the tone that rings true in KELT to this day. Thanks to Tom’s foundational efforts, KELT recently renewed our accredited status for a second time, and we carried forth Tom’s wise advice when answering inquiries from Accreditation reviewers, “Only answer the question that is asked – you don’t get extra points for over answering!” Wise words!
Tom at Butler Head during CE process
Clean up at Butler Cove
“I’m so glad we were able to help by protecting their gem.”
Crawford Creek
Tom, Judy at Crawford Creek closing + during site visit with Anna
A significant part of Tom’s legacy in conservation lies with the protection of a portion his and his wife’s, Judy Barrington, property in north Bath. It’s a third headland located between Thorne Head and Butler Head and is at the confluence of Crawford Creek and the Kennebec River. “For many years Tom and Judy talked about protecting the property that had been in his family for many years,” said Jack Witham, “I had been on the property many times and seen the spectacular views offered, east to Lines Island, north to Varney Cove, west up Crawford Creek, and south down the Kennebec. I’m so glad we were able to help them by acquiring and protecting their gem.” In 2023, KELT purchased (in a bargain sale) 20-acres that is now Crawford Creek Preserve, which contains oak-pine forest and rich intertidal wetlands.
The land for decades was stewarded by Tom, who managed the woods and field. When KELT staff visited the property during the conservation process, Tom and Judy were always eager to join the tour and showcase their favorite shoreline viewpoints and best-loved walking paths. They eagerly shared the history of the land and its past inhabitants, both human and wildlife, bringing a spotlight to honor the storied past of this headland. Tom and Judy were resolute in seeing their beloved woods and shoreline protected forever, and it was an honor to be a part of their vision.