2010 - Phyllis Ford
KLT's 2010 Friend of Kittery Conservation Award was presented to Phyllis Ford, director of the Spruce Creek Association. As a homeowner on picturesque Spruce Creek, when a neighborhood problem loomed Ford helped organize local residents to take action, eventually galvanizing their efforts into the 200 volunteer, non-dues-paying members comprising the Spruce Creek Association, which has raised more than $450,000 in grants to fund studies and the restoration of the Spruce Creek watershed.

New England-educated and a longtime veteran of the business world, Ford's successful advocacy demonstrates that one needn't have an academic or professional background in conservation to do important work in their community. Ford—and the Spruce Creek Association she helped to create—confirms Margaret Mead's wisdom to "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has."

2009 - Helen Winebaum
The 2009 Friend of Kittery Conservation Award was awarded to Helen Winebaum, past president and current board member of York Land Trust. Winebaum was recognized for her tireless dedication to land conservation, having been an integral part of the York Land Trust since its inception and chairing multiple capital campaigns including the Mount Agamenticus to the Sea Conservation Initiative, which has raised nearly $20 million in land and funds in the last four years.

2008 – Roger Cole
Stepping down from the Board after 15 years of service, KLT recognized Roger Cole for his enormous contributions to land conservation in Kittery—and the greater southern Maine region—for the last 20 years. Former Arundel town planner and director of the Kennebunk Land Trust, Roger also helped organize the Mt. Agamenticus to the Sea Conservation Initiative, where he coordinated a coalition of ten conservation groups in a six-town area to protect shared community and ecological values.

The database of Kittery landowners Roger developed in the late 1980s served as a backbone for the land trust in its early years, and in many ways Roger’s work continues to inform KLT’s mission. For Roger, conservation is a worldview. From his days as a Seabrook protester to his work for the Nature Conservancy, Roger has always been an environmental activist, professional, and leader—our communities are richer for his tireless contributions of time and expertise.   


2007 – Grace Frawley
Near the end of Norton Road, Grace Frawley left a legacy of classic New England woodlands to be enjoyed in perpetuity as it had been for generations. In 1999 Grace donated 62 acres laced with old stone walls and 100-year-old hardwoods to KLT. Having raised six children and countless animals at her nearby home, Grace realized these woods were more than mere real estate—they provided animal habitat and a beautiful place to connect with nature. Stating simply that, “Everyone has a part to play in protecting Kittery’s open spaces.” KLT was honored to present her with the third annual Friend of Kittery Conservation Award.


2006 – Mary Kimball
Robert Anderson wrote in Cross-Grained and Wily Waters, “That Cutts Island could remain a naturalist’s wonder and an environmentalist’s trophy owes in no small measure to that other presiding spirit, William Francis Raynes, saltwater farmer extraordinaire, whose love for this island was only exceeded by his generosity in deeding much of his property to the Rachel Carson Refuge. Without his abiding resistance to developmental pressures, Cutts Island would be just another exclusive address.  That it belongs to the Rachel Carson Refuge instead is a tribute to the man; Brave Boat Harbor would not be what it is without his prosaic bravery.”

Raynes’s love for the land and its conservation was carried on by the next generation as his daughter, Mary Kimball, donated 10 acres of land to the Rachel Carson National Wildlife Refuge in 2005, including Raynes Island in Chauncey Creek, named after her father. An avid gardener, kayaker, birdwatcher, and naturalist, Mary Kimball was the second well-deserved recipient of KLT’s Friend of Kittery Conservation Award.


2005 – Citizens in the 1950s who worked to protect Fort Foster
It’s difficult to imagine Kittery’s Fort Foster as private property—or a trailer park—but without a group of earnest locals, it nearly was. When the US Government opted to release the 90-acre military facility in the mid-1950s, some citizens and the Town Council supported a local developer’s bid to buy the land for private enterprise. Forward-thinking Kittery residents, however, including Fred and Rita Perry, Roger Raymond Sr., and Larry and Barb Estes, proposed its preservation as a public park and secured its approval in a referendum vote.

Since 1955, Fort Foster has been maintained for public use by the stewardship of the Town Council, the Town Manager, the Public Works Commissioner, and the Kittery Parks Commission. The 2004 passage of a long-term Fort Foster Management Plan affords an open, public process in which Kittery’s residents can continue to help shape and preserve the future of the park. KLT’s first annual Friend of Kittery Conservation Award was bestowed in honor of this group of local citizens who fought to save this amazing place for future generations to use and enjoy.