Angela Twitchell (left), executive director of Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust, and Kate Stookey, CEO of Maine Coast Heritage Trust, at the annual Maine Land Conservation Conference in Rockport. Courtesy of Maine Coast Heritage Trust
Maine Coast Heritage Trust (MCHT), a statewide land conservation organization, has appointed Angela Twitchell of Topsham to be its Land Trust Program Director. The announcement was made at the annual Maine Land Conservation Conference, held May 3 at the Samoset Resort in Rockport. Twitchell will assume the leadership position held for 13 years by Warren Whitney, who announced his retirement on Jan. 4.
As MCHT’s new Land Trust Program director, Twitchell will be responsible for consulting with and advising local land trusts and building a land trust network across Maine. The Maine Land Trust Network, established in 1995 as a program of MCHT, represents 84 land trusts that manage 340 water access points, 2.6 million conserved acres, and over 2,500 miles of trails.
Twitchell, who is from Turner, has a deep knowledge of land conservation. For the past 15 years, she has served as executive director of Brunswick-Topsham Land Trust (BTLT), one of the state’s largest land trusts. Previously, she served as a land conservation consultant and a government and community relations coordinator for The Nature Conservancy (TNC). Her first job in conservation was serving as a joint employee of MCHT and TNC as a campaign manager for a $50 million Land for Maine’s Future Bond, which MCHT has helped sustain for two and half decades.
Twitchell, who says she “grew up in a family full of farmers, small businesspeople, and outdoor enthusiasts,” was drawn from a young age to the cause of environmental protection. Her father’s family business – Twitchell’s Airport in Turner – provided her with the rare opportunity to visit largely inaccessible wilderness lakes and ponds.
“As a child I was so lucky to be able to fly into remote places in Maine that few people get to see, but I also experienced firsthand the effects of pollution on the Androscoggin River and the result of humans not being good stewards of the land,” she said. “I knew from a young age that I wanted to go into an environmental field.”
As executive director of BTLT, Twitchell has worked on land conservation projects in Brunswick, Topsham and many neighboring towns. She helped establish BTLT’s accreditation by the Land Trust Accreditation Commission and forged partnerships with businesses and nonprofits. More recently, she worked in partnership with MCHT to protect 87-acre Woodward Point Preserve, one of the largest undeveloped parcels of land in northern Casco Bay and initiated a merger with the Cathance River Education Alliance. She has raised more than $14 million for BTLT conservation efforts; increased the organization’s annual income from $100,000 to $875,000 per year; and grown the organization from one to nine employees.
Twitchell says she will ease gradually into her new position, serving part-time throughout the summer and assuming a full-time role on Sept. 5.
“All of us are delighted to welcome Angela Twitchell to MCHT and into this important statewide leadership role,” said MCHT President and CEO Kate Stookey. “Angela has demonstrated an extraordinary gift for inspiring people and movements; she will play a key role in increasing momentum for the important work of Maine’s land trust community.”
Twitchell earned a bachelor’s in political science from Bates College in 1990 with an emphasis on environmental studies and spent her junior year abroad studying in the Brazilian rainforest. She was a New England representative for Terrafirma Risk Retention Group, which works to ensure that land trusts can properly defend their conservation interests. She also served as chair of the Maine Land Trust Network from 2018-2021.
She helped establish the farmers’ market and community gardens at Crystal Spring Farm and helped to form the Merrymeeting Food Council, a network of farms, fisheries, businesses, nonprofits, and government to advance a dynamic food system in 14 towns surrounding Merrymeeting Bay. She has volunteered locally on numerous town, school, and sporting committees.
“I am honored to have been selected to join MCHT as the new Land Trust Program Director,” said Twitchell. “I’m particularly excited to be working on a statewide level to explore ways for the land trust network to collaborate and plan for intentional impacts, especially as it relates to climate change.”
Twitchell noted that Maine’s land trusts are already addressing a range of goals within the Maine Climate Action Plan, “but if we collectively and intentionally pull together, I think that we can have a more significant impact on the state of Maine,” she said.
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