Meet Maura Adams, New Chair of Five Rivers Board
In June 2019, Maura Adams was unanimously elected Chair by Five Rivers’ Board of Trustees, having served as Vice-Chair for the past two years. Maura is a program director at the Northern Forest Center, a non-profit organization that creates economic opportunity and community vitality while fostering sound forest stewardship across the Northern Forest of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and New York. We thought you’d like to know more about her!
Name: Maura Adams
Town of residence: Deerfield
Lived in New Hampshire since: 2006
How did you first become aware of Five Rivers? I attended a farm-to-table dinner at Dimond Hill. Later, my husband became an easement monitor for several Five Rivers properties in Penacook (where we used to live).
For you, what’s the most important function Five Rivers serves? Keeping land from being developed in ways that are detrimental to habitat, ecological services, working lands and outdoor recreation opportunities, and our rural aesthetic.
Does or how does your day job intersect with your board service? I’m a program director for the Northern Forest Center, a regional innovation and investment partner that connects people, economy, and the forested landscape in the Northern Forest of New Hampshire, Maine, Vermont, and New York. Five Rivers’ commitment to protect working lands – where forestry, food production, and recreation coexist for the benefit of local communities – is consistent with the Center’s values (and, of course, my own). The Center’s not a land trust and we don’t overlap geographically with Five Rivers (the Northern Forest doesn’t start till north of the notches!) but I appreciate contributing to complementary organizations with similar ethics.
What is your favorite Five Rivers property right now, and briefly, why? I’ve spent many hours running Winant and Swope trails and they’ll always feel special to me!
What question do you wish people would ask you about Five Rivers?
Q: Of all the organizations you could volunteer for or give money to, why this one? A: I find it very meaningful to contribute to an organization whose work is so tangible, personally impactful, and widely beneficial. All of us in the capital region benefit from the recreation, food, forest products, habitat, and clean rivers that Five Rivers helps provide. I wish more people knew Five Rivers was responsible for so many amenities!
What’s your favorite way to spend a free day? Trail run or mountain bike with my husband, jump in a river or lake, work a little in the garden, cook something from the garden or CSA, read a good book on the deck with a tasty local beer…
What’s something you’d love to do outside in New Hampshire this year? An ambitious trail run, like running the Presidential Traverse in a day. Not sure I have time for training, but I’d love to do it.
What else do you think people would like to know about you or do you wish we’d asked? My husband and I (and our dog Miles) live off-grid on 24 acres of conservation land (not a Five Rivers easement, though – we’re in Bear-Paw’s area!) and love knowing that the meadow, brook, and woods will forever be a happy home for turtles, moose, deer, and other creatures.
