Read below for an essay excerpted from 50 Remarkable Years, 50 Remarkable People, Wildlands’ 50th anniversary book honoring the partners and volunteers who have made remarkable contributions to land conservation in Southeastern Massachusetts.

Read “The Next Remarkable Chapter,” our series introduction by President Karen Grey.

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A fabled rock, the first Thanksgiving, and early relations between Indigenous peoples and the Pilgrims highlight the widely known cultural history of Plymouth, Massachusetts. However, there is much more to the story of America’s oldest town.

Plymouth, a high-priority town for Wildlands Trust, is the largest town in Massachusetts. Few towns anywhere can boast the natural assets of Plymouth, including 37 miles of coastline, 450 ponds, large swaths of globally rare pine barrens, and newly undammed rivers running through healthy forests and into the ocean.

Featuring significant tracts of open land and located within driving distance of Boston, Plymouth has a lot at stake. No one understands this better than Wildlands partners Bill Keohan, Chair of the Plymouth Community Preservation Committee, and David Gould, Director of the Plymouth Department of Marine and Environmental Affairs. Bill has worked with Wildlands on dozens of land protection projects. Few are as committed or as adept as Bill at finding land, negotiating with landowners, and shepherding projects through town meetings for approval.

Leading with dedication and expertise, David is among the most respected municipal natural resource managers in the country. His work on ambitious dam removal projects and large-scale wetland restorations spearheads the collaborative effort to reverse environmental degradation in Plymouth.

Purchase 50 Remarkable Years, 50 Remarkable People today: wildlandstrust.org/shop50