Wildlands Trust
Stewardship Training Center
Building Community to Care for Conservation Land
Across the Northeast, land is being protected faster than stewards can care for it.
In 2022, Wildlands Trust established the Stewardship Training Center to bridge this gap.
The Stewardship Training Center (STC) builds the capacity of the regional conservation community to advance our shared mission. We support this effort in two overarching ways: training programs and rental opportunities. Click the icons below to learn more.
We equip stewardship staff and volunteers with skills and confidence to care for public and private lands.
We offer program and meeting space to organizations sharing the mission of land conservation.
We hope you’ll stay in touch! Join our STC email list for updates and upcoming events.
The Facility
The Barker Estate on Halfway Pond in Plymouth, Massachusetts
The Stewardship Training Center is housed in a 12,000-square-foot building, the former estate of prominent cranberry grower LeBaron Russell Barker. Lodging is available for overnight program participants in the Barker Estate, which includes the following amenities:
Nine available bedrooms (29 beds)
Nine bathrooms
Two kitchens
Dining room
Double-parlor classroom for up to 40 people
Break-out rooms
Patio & screened-in porch overlooking Halfway Pond
Pavilion & outdoor training spaces
Fully equipped woodshop
Laundry center
The STC is humbly nestled in Halfway Pond Conservation Area, a 440-acre ecological gem in South Plymouth featuring pine barren forests, diverse wetlands, and a shoreline on idyllic Halfway Pond. With 12 miles of trails amid six local ponds, outdoor recreation opportunities abound, from hiking and mountain biking to fishing and paddling. Combined with Myles Standish State Forest to the west and Halfway Pond Wildlife Management Area to the south, the conservation area comprises the most expansive protected public open space in Eastern Massachusetts.
Thank you to the STC Advisory Committee, a statewide cohort working to develop the Center's strategy, curriculum, and policies.
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Buzz Constable (Chair)
Attorney, Former President, Mass Land Trust Coalition
Fran Blanchard
Vice President for Stewardship, The Trustees
Paul Bruce
Corporate Advisor
Paul Catanzaro
Professor, UMass Amherst, Department of Environmental Conservation
David Gould
Director, Marine & Environmental Affairs, Town of Plymouth
Joe Grady
Former Conservation Agent, Town of Duxbury
Karen Grey
President, Wildlands Trust
Molly Jacobs
Vice President for Environmental Education & Outreach, Manomet
Bernie McHugh
Founder, Mass Land Trust Coalition
President, Montana Audubon
Mark Robinson
President, Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts
Dr. Mark Russo
Board Member, Wildlands Trust
Tim Simmons
Restoration Ecologist, MA Natural Heritage & Endangered Species
Program Director of Science & Stewardship, The Nature Conservancy MA
Zoë Smiarowski
Stewardship Programs Manager, Wildlands Trust
Skip Stuck
Stewardship Volunteer, Wildlands Trust
Jason Zimmer
District Supervisor, Mass Division of Fisheries & Wildlife
Ona Ferguson
Consensus Building Institute
For updates from the Stewardship Training Center, sign up for our STC email list:
Questions, feedback, or suggestions? Contact:
Zoë Smiarowski
Stewardship Programs Manager
trainingcenter@wildlandstrust.org
774-343-5121 x109
