Director's Message

By Steve Hobbs, Executive Director, Belwin Conservancy

I am exceptionally lucky. I work in a beautiful setting doing something I think is important with a terrific staff and with a very supportive board and membership. I don’t know exactly how I got to be so fortunate, but I’m not going to argue with it.

What I do recognize is that with that good fortune comes responsibility to do what one can to make things better. Maybe that gnawing embarrassment and guilt for good things that happen is a product of my Midwestern roots, but I know I don’t want it to go away. It’s a comfortable uneasiness.

I am especially grateful for where I am when I hear what’s happening in our world. It seems like there’s not a lot that’s going right these days and a lot of folks are frustrated with their situations. As trying as these times are, it’s the people that persevere that I admire. Those pathological optimists that believe there’s always something you can do to make things better. They believe that even the smallest act of kindness, taking that first step toward a lifetime resolve to make things better, is what gets us back on track. I agree.

So, what does that mean for us at the Belwin Conservancy? In the scheme of things, Belwin Conservancy’s land ownership is small, we don’t have a huge membership, and we’re just a staff of six. Isn’t it a little audacious to think we can make a real difference?

Well, I’ll never think so. Maybe I’m delusional, but I believe that taking those groups out to see the bison in the Bison Buggy, just seven at a time, has a real impact. I believe that the 10,000 or so kids that come through the Valley Branch Environmental Learning Center here at Belwin, just for a few hours, are left with a lasting impression that affects how they think about their place in the environment. I think how we’ve made our trails and Belwin more accessible has brought many to appreciate the beauty of our wonderful preserve and that time at Belwin gives them comfort.

Now, we have an incredible opportunity to make the Belwin Conservancy even better. We have a new challenge before us. We have a purchase option to acquire a critically important and beautiful 17-acre parcel right on Valley Creek. Left unprotected, it would allow development to occur very near where Valley Creek enters the St. Croix River. The landowner has agreed to sell the land for less than it’s worth and we have received grants in conjunction with the Minnesota Land Trust that further reduce the amount of money we need to raise. When the dust settles, it means we need to raise $175,000 by the end of the year. Between other contributions and grants, it also means that every dollar that is donated to the Belwin Conservancy is matched five-fold. We simply don’t get many opportunities like this to buy an important piece of land and leverage our own funds to such a degree.

This is our time to step up and make this part of the world just that much more special. Every year for the past three years I’ve asked you to answer the call and you always have.

John Lennon would have been 70 a few days ago. He once said, "A dream you dream alone is only a dream. A dream you dream together is reality." I believe that and I thank you for making our dreams here at the Belwin Conservancy a reality. I’m positive we are making a difference.

Steve Hobbs
Executive Director, Belwin Conservancy