Leaving a Legacy in Bakersfield
As 2025 concluded, an additional 77 acres of priority forestland in the CHC region were permanently conserved in the Town of Bakersfield. This milestone marks the latest achievement in a growing partnership among Cold Hollow to Canada, the New England Forestry Foundation and the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board. This collaborative success, of course, could not have happened without the dedication and vision of the landowner, Debra Mason.
Deb was a cherished member of the Bakersfield woodlots group who passed away in 2024 from a recurring illness. In the months leading up to this tragic loss, Deb started engaging with CHC on a plan to protect her forest— a place she carefully managed to support ecosystem health, resilience, and wildlife habitat.
On a spring day in 2024, a meeting was scheduled to introduce Deb to NEFF over a video call, with a plan to outline the conservation easement process and initiate a project. That’s when her longtime companion and dear friend, Mark Woodward, appeared rather than Deb. Mark let us know Deb had passed on just the day before and he was helping with her final wishes. He explained that a notification alert on her phone prompted him to join the call.
Mark noted that Deb recently expressed her intention to permanently protect her land with a conservation easement. Despite the sadness of losing a close friend, Mark was determined to complete her vision. That was a profound moment that reinforced how this work extends beyond our lifetimes, serving larger purposes for generations to come. It was also the moment we all got collectively busy turning Deb’s dream into a reality.
Through Mark’s perseverance and a steadfast partnership, we can now pause to remember Deb’s legacy. The woods she loved so deeply, which also serve as her final resting place, is now safeguarded forever. This also contributes to a growing network of protected lands in Bakersfield—an area vital for ecological connectivity that links the lowlands of the Champlain Valley to the highlands of the Green Mountains. This accomplishment underscores the broader effort to secure ecological integrity within the resilient and biodiverse expanse of the Northern Forest.
You can read about Deb’s amazing life journey HERE.
This project received support from the CHC Conservation Fund (Jesse B. Cox Charitable Trust & Canaday Family Charitable Trust) and a grant from the Vermont Housing and Conservation Board’s Private Working Forestland Program.
