Message from the Chair
This year, we unveiled our new strategic plan—a bold vision that honors our 134-year mission to protect special places for everyone, forever, while meeting today’s urgent challenges. The public response has been heartwarming and inspiring.
The plan doesn’t ask us to do incrementally more. It demands we accelerate land conservation and doubles down on stewardship, ensuring every property we protect receives the devoted care it deserves.
We’re already making remarkable progress. This year, we closed on 12 land conservation projects, protecting nearly 3,000 acres—more than a sixfold increase from our historical pace of saving 400 acres annually. We’ve safeguarded iconic vistas and landscapes while forging partnerships that multiply our impact.
Meanwhile, our approach injects hope into the climate crisis by recognizing that land, forests, farms, and coastlines aren’t merely threatened by climate change—they’re critical solutions to addressing it. The plan insists that access to open space, beauty, and community isn’t simply a luxury, it is essential to our collective wellbeing.
Our strategic priorities emerged from asking ourselves a fundamental question: In these times, what does our founding mission call us to do today? The answer is clear—we must act with unprecedented urgency and scale while maintaining our commitment to stewardship and accessibility.
Together, we have the opportunity to create lasting impact for generations to come. We are grateful for your encouragement and support.
Tom French
Chair, Board of Directors
Message from the President
I’m pleased to present The Trustees’ 2025 Annual Report—a snapshot of the rich and wonderful stories that unfolded across our properties this year. Stories are important. They’re what connect us to the land we steward, to each other, and to the future we’re building together. Behind every metric in this report is a story worth telling.
This year, as I’ve traveled across our properties—from the windswept beaches of the North Shore to the quiet pine forests of the Berkshires—I’ve been reminded that every landscape holds countless stories of resilience, of hope, and of communities coming together to protect what matters most.
I think of the family who visits the same trail every autumn, teaching their children the names of trees their grandparents taught them. I think of the volunteers who arrive before dawn to restore habitats, driven by a conviction that this work matters. I think of the young person who discovers, perhaps for the first time, that nature isn’t something separate from them—it’s where they belong.
These stories inspire us to keep going, especially when the challenges feel daunting. Climate change, biodiversity loss, and inequitable access to nature demand urgent action. But within the work of overcoming these challenges, we find strength: in the dedication of our staff, in the generosity of our supporters, and in the determination of communities who refuse to let their special landscapes fade.
In all of 2025, your support has enabled us to deepen our commitment to making nature accessible to everyone, protect nearly 3,000 acres of open space, and welcome more than 1.8 million visitors to our properties. But numbers alone don’t capture what we’ve accomplished together. The real measure is in the moments of wonder, the connections forged, the hope renewed.
Thank you for ensuring these places, and the stories they hold, endure.
Katie Theoharides
President & CEO