Welcome from new Board President Sue Van Hook

It is summer on the mountain and the ripeness of the season is apparent everywhere you look - new lambs and chicks, vegetables galore, fresh hay in the barn, a new crop of interns and new members to MFFC’s Board of Trustees. A sincere thanks to the board members who have served for many years guiding the organization to this moment in time. And welcome new trustees. We have exciting opportunities ahead to align the organization with a changing world.

I am honored to become the new president of the Board of Trustees, appreciating the full circle I’ve traveled from land conservation in Maine with Frank Hatch (father) to learning from George Hatch (son and immediate past president). The connections from this ridge top landscape are as vast as the underground fungal mycelia I study. We welcome new members to connect to our sustainably focused working farm and forest landscape. We invite old members to stay connected and involved. And we seek new ways to make the MFFC experience inclusive and accessible to everyone. Time spent in nature is essential for our well-being. We make that easy at MFFC. So why not introduce a friend to Merck Forest this summer, the way Frank Hatch introduced me to this remarkable place thirty-two years ago?

Sue Van Hook President