Meet Our Community Farm Land Trust Board of Directors
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Executive Committee
Co-chairs Marcie Cleaver Rachel Friedman Clerk Pat Labine Treasurer Byron Cotton Board of Directors
Joel Slovick Sade Gilliom Emeritus Board Member
Russell Fox |
I grew up trail riding on horseback. Later in life, I transitioned to raising cattle which got me back outside where I learned about implementing best practices for raising livestock. Today, I know some of the many benefits of local farms and open space and the lack of planning to keep enough of it local. By volunteering with the Community Farm Land Trust, I am able to make positive changes to keep local farms. Along this journey, I have met many wonderful people in our community.
I was an environmental regulator for 30 years. One of my positions had me working on limiting agricultural pesticide/herbicide applications for salmon protection. I became very active in promoting organic and small, family-run farming as a way to protect water quality and the quality of life. I appreciate fresh, locally grown food and am passionate about food access issues. Our area is such a rich, ripe agricultural area. It breaks my heart when farmland is lost to development. I want to ensure that aging farmers are able to retire with receipt of the full value of their land and that young farmers of all backgrounds are able to make a living working the land. I hope that during my time on the board that we will see a slowing of the loss of farmland and that more farmers of color will have the opportunity to make farming their vocation.
I worked in and around Ag Commodities most of my adult life. I see the need to keep farmland productive in growing food and the need to train others how this process works. The farm community has been an important part of the culture of the lands called the United States for thousands of years. It's important to keep the farm culture vibrant for all ages and groups in the years to come.
My 20 years of teaching Ecological Agriculture and Community Development at Evergreen State College led me to the work of the Community Farm Land Trust. After co-owning my own farm for 30 years, we wanted to ensure that the land we owned remained in agricultural production and was protected from future development. This land became the first agricultural easement held by the CFLT and further connected me to the vital work our organization does to preserve farmland forever.
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