The Dartmouth Natural Resources Trust (DNRT) honored two “outstanding volunteers” at its 51st Annual Meeting held at Friends Academy on May 19, the nonprofit organization said.

Katie White received the “Bill Pinney Conservation Leadership Award,” given to honor those who have made an outstanding contribution to the conservation of Dartmouth’s natural resources.

Jim Forbush received the “Joe Frothingham Award,” given to a DNRT member who exemplifies Frothingham’s dedication to conservation, love of the outdoors, and pure joy in it all.

Katie White is the longest serving member of any DNRT committee, having served on DNRT’s Land Acquisition Committee for 22 years.

She was board president from 1999 to 2003 and co-chair of the Slocum’s River Conservation Project, which lasted between 1998 and 2001.

This project was DNRT’s first and largest land acquisition campaign, raising $8 million (with The Trustees of Reservations) to protect over 1,000 acres of land, including the Slocum’s River Reserve and surrounding farmland, Destruction Brook Woods, and Dartmoor Farm Wildlife Management Area Reserve.

Since that time, she has served on the steering/fundraising committees of nearly every land acquisition campaign undertaken by DNRT.

In presenting the award, DNRT Executive Director Dexter Mead thanked White for her “years of dedication, leadership, thoughtful advice, passion for land conservation, and fortitude to fundraise.”

Jim Forbush joined DNRT in 2012 and within two years was dedicating his time and talents to DNRT by participating on the trail crew, the Barn Bash lighting crew, the Finance Committee, the Development and Outreach Committee, and the board of directors.

In 2014 he became co-chair of the DNRT Headquarters Capital Campaign Strategy Committee, whose 2-year effort raised $1.5 million to construct The DNRT Center at Helfand Farm and establish a Land Conservation Fund.

Forbush also served as board president from 2017 to 2019 and remains a “core” member of the trail crew.

In other business, DNRT members elected three new members to its Board of Directors: Fred Dabney, Lorraine Granda, and Forbush.
Officers elected were Andy Mellgard as president, Jim Dorsey as vice-president, Peggy Gildersleeve as secretary, and Clifford “Tip” Tracy as treasurer. Steven Shuster and Marjorie Waite each renewed for a second 3-year term.

DNRT is a non-profit, membership-supported land trust with a mission “to preserve and protect Dartmouth’s natural resources for people and nature, forever.”

Over the last 50 years, it has worked in partnership with other conservation organizations, state agencies and the Town of Dartmouth to protect more than 5,500 acres of natural areas and farmland in Dartmouth.