A message from Mike Tucci, Chair of Stewardship 

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Stewardship is defined as the act of taking care of something such as a property or an organization. A “good” steward may be thought of as someone who does their fiduciary duty for the property itself as well as the people who have invested resources into the plot—the trustees, board, or family etc.

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I would make the case that stewardship is more of a balancing act between people’s perceptions and nature’s needs. What I am attempting to express is that stewardship, to me, is the nexus of all things that dwell in our natural world and protecting these various flora and fauna. It is not just people’s perception of how nature can provide utility for them at a certain moment in time. That is the longwinded way of saying I view stewardship as reciprocal relationship between the steward, the land and its’ stakeholders (animals, plants, waters, soils etc.), as well as future generations.

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Unfortunately, many have become adherents of the belief that nature exists to serve us and that we somehow exist outside of nature. Exceptional stewardship grasps the concept that we are not separate from nature, we are interconnected and should strive to be in balance with all of its’ constituents needs, whether they be organic or inorganic. The difficulty of this task is that plants, water, animals, or soil cannot verbally express their needs and expectations to us. It is our duty to observe our surroundings/parcels and overtime become personally familiar with them. People have an inherent ability to recognize patterns and changes within them. If something seems out of balance, report it, and we’ll get to the bottom of it.

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Our ultimate goal as stewards is to preserve the natural majesty, we inherent with our first breath, so that others not yet of this earth can witness the timeless grandeur mother nature provides us all without thought or hesitation.