Everett McLaughlin: Acknowledging locals contributions to the Lakes Region

To The Daily Sun,

I want to acknowledge five recent retirees who made major contributions to our Lakes Region and who I've had the honor of working with.

I worked with Pat Tarpy of the Lake Winnipesaukee Alliance early on, when concerns and action about Lake Winnipesaukee's water quality were in its infancy. Pat has been relentless in her 15-year pursuit to educate so many people and towns about the many sources of pollution and how to mitigate them.

Deb Shackett worked for the Town of Gilford when I was on the Conservation Commission before she became our county administrator. Through all the politics and policies, over her 18 years there, she has done a phenomenal job.

Doug Hill was an environmental lawyer and a 47-year member of the Gilford Conservation Commission, and remains an active member of the Squam Lakes Conservation Society. I was the chair of the Gilford Land Conservation Task Force and Doug's expertise through all of our efforts and successes to conserve Ramblin' Vewe Farm, Saltmarsh Pond, Piper Mountain and many other properties was invaluable.

Don Berry was president and CEO of the Lakes Region Conservation Trust. His 20-year efforts added over 13,000 additional acres of conserved properties in the Lakes Region. Don was always supportive of our conservation efforts and often LRCT would become the owner or hold the easement.

Chris Martin has been the raptor biologist for Audubon for 35 years. I volunteered for Audubon to monitor eagles and ospreys for well over a decade under Chris when both species were few and far between. Thanks to his efforts, both species are doing well and there are now over a dozen active eagle nests on Lake Winnipesaukee alone.

We owe a debt of gratitude to each of these five people for all their combined efforts of 135 years of service. 

Everett McLaughlin

Gilford