Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust

Peter Ventre

Pete Ventre is the owner of Carrot Seed LLC, a strategic business advisory firm assisting business owners transition to retirement, and real estate investors and developers finance their acquisitions and projects. He serves currently as Treasurer and Trustee, Portland Public Library; Past Chairman and Finance Committee member, Portland Region Chamber of Commerce; and as an Executive Board member, Pine Tree Council, Boy Scouts of America.

Bob Cummings, In Memoriam

Bob Cummings covered environmental affairs for the Portland Press Herald and the Maine Sunday Telegram for twenty-five years.  An Appalachian Trail thru-hiker and trail maintainer, he was president of the Phippsburg Land Trust and a lifetime corresponding member of the Appalachian Mountain Club Maine Chapter and the Maine Appalachian Trail Club.  Bob was a founding member of the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust and his dedication and service were invaluable to the organization.

William L. Plouffe

Bill Plouffe is an attorney at Drummond Woodsum.  For over thirty years he has put his considerable land use, environmental and municipal law practice experience to work for conservation organizations like the Maine Appalachian Trail Land Trust.

Katie Mauro

Katie Mauro is a healthcare administrator at Maine Medical Center who discovered her love for the outdoors through trail running. She is passionate about bringing awareness to conservation work that protects Maine’s natural landscape. Enjoying the proximity to the mountains, she and her fiance can often be found exploring new trails when not at home in Portland.

Lucy Santerre

Lucy moved to Maine in 2020 to work one season on a small organic farm, but the beauty of the A.T. and its surrounding trails near the 100 Mile Wilderness convinced her to stay in state. She currently does development and communications work for the York County Domestic Violence Resource Center in addition to providing programmatic support at the American Philosophical Association. Lucy lives with her husband at the beach in southern Maine.

Mark Cheever

Mark discovered the Maine mountains during this thru-hike in 2017 and felt an immediate connection to this breathtaking landscape. Professionally, Mark works for Appalachian Mountain Club overseeing its President’s Society and previously worked for many years in development, marketing and program management for Hudson River Park in NYC. He is a volunteer trail maintainer for MATC, a graduate of Maine Association of Nonprofits’ Emerging Leaders program, and currently lives in Boston with his girlfriend and dog, Benton.

George N. Appell, In Memoriam

George Appell grew up on a farm in York, Pennsylvania, and was a world-renowned anthropologist specializing in research on Borneo.  He held two advanced degrees from Harvard University and lived in Phillips, Maine.

Caroline Norden

Caroline Norden began her land conservation career in 1987 as the executive director of
two local land trusts in northwest Connecticut. She then spent 12 years at Maine Coast
Heritage Trust (MCHT), first overseeing it land protection and stewardship programs and
later serving as a senior project manager. She later ran her own consulting firm,
specializing in strategic planning, land conservation and stewardship. Currently, she is
deeply involved in the management of 5,400 acres surrounding a largely undeveloped
lake in Dedham, Maine, and is a member of the John Sage Foundation board and the
Yarmouth Climate Action Committee.

Lloyd Griscom

Lloyd owns and operates Peace and Plenty Organic Blueberry Farm in Phillips Maine with his wife Hope. They live in Phillips. Lloyd is also Vice President of High Peaks Alliance and a Trustee of the Sandy River Land Trust.

Mary Egan

Mary declared Maine her favorite state after thru-hiking the Appalachian Trail with her husband, Dean, in 2018. After the trail, she and her husband returned home to Arlington, MA. She now works for Conservation Law Foundation’s Legal Food Hub.

Derek Markgren – Treasurer

Derek Markgren is a Certified Public Accountant with the Portland firm Purdy Powers & Company.  He lives in Falmouth with his wife Megan, the two of them can often be found in all corners of the state hiking, camping, fly fishing and enjoying Maine’s preserved wild lands.

Sasha Nyary

Sasha Nyary is a writer and editor who has lived almost her entire life in cities. In 2020 she was based in Holyoke, Massachusetts, when the pandemic allowed her to work remotely. So she moved to Maine to be with her wife in New Gloucester. She started a communications business, became a member of the Executive and Marketing committees at the Maine Appalachian Trail Club, and is learning to fish.