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05/27/2015 08:00 AMBy 1971, Albert “Red” Erda had earned his degree from Wesleyan, finished a stint with the U.S. Coast Guard, and landed a great job in New Haven. The Westchester County (New York) native and his bride, Ann, drove up the New Haven area coastline and found their new hometown, Guilford.
Two years later, Red joined the board of the Guilford Land Conservation Trust (GLCT). Now, as GLCT celebrates its 50th anniversary, Red remains committed to helping preserve important parcels of open space here, especially with his continued service as chairman of GLCT’s Land Acquisition Committee.
On June 6, the public’s invited to join GLCT for an outdoor 50th Anniversary Celebration with music, food, and family activities at the Olmsted Outlook property on River Street, from 2 to 5 p.m. As part of the day’s events (which also includes GLCT’s annual meeting), special guests will be Audubon Connecticut Director of Bird Conservation Patrick Comins and Guilford native Sally Harold, director of river initiatives for The Nature Conservancy in Connecticut.
Since it was founded in 1965, GCLT has, to date, preserved about 3,000 acres and is Connecticut’s most successful single town land trust. For the uninitiated, that’s really saying something, as Red explains.
“Just about every town in Connecticut has one that’s dedicated to the town. Normally, you would find that they are area-oriented, or even state-oriented, or even a couple of states, so this is rather unique,” he says, adding, “I think it’s a great idea because the local people are deciding what they want to do. And, if you want to do it, you’d better raise some money to do it with.”
Raising funds to secure critical outdoor space that will never be developed and could add to the town’s passive recreation opportunities (such as hiking trails) has been a mission of the GLCT since its inception. When Red signed on, the concept of how to raise ample funding was being explored, and he recalls one particular idea that helped boost GLCT’s financing power.
“Around 1975, a guy offered to sell us some property, and he wanted $100,000—and everyone said, ‘Oh, we can’t do that.’ But the fun thing about it was a couple of us new guys on the board said, ‘Why don’t we get a bank loan?’ So I went to [former Guilford Savings Bank president] David Dudley and said, ‘Can we get a mortgage?’ and he said, ‘Sure.’ It was wonderful, and that was the beginning.”
GLCT has generated some $5 million to finance its acquisitions through the years.
“In a small town like this, the majority have been in the $200,000 to $300,000 range, but we did one that was almost $2 million—that was Broomstick Ledges, on the east side of Route 77 opposite Bluff Head,” says Red.
The acquisition required buying two, 50-plus acre parcels and then purchasing 140 acres of contiguous land offered by a family owning that parcel. There is still more land that can be preserved there, notes Red, who keeps tabs on prospective parcels as one of his duties for GLCT.
“There are probably two to three more pieces in that area that would get us up to about 400 acres,” he says. “We probably have six major areas that we’re kind of growing that way.”
Part of Red’s GLCT role is in helping prospective sellers recognize the virtue and value of selling desirable land to be preserved instead of developed. The process often includes reaching out to land owners even before they may be considering selling to anyone.
“We let the owners know we’re interested in the land, that we don’t want you to feel forced out, but to please give us a call if you’re interested,” says Red. “And there are some benefits, such as if they give us a reduced price, they can take the difference as a donation, or they can put an easement on the land, or sell it outright. We’re willing to work to come up with something that works.”
Red’s done his homework and has the spreadsheets to show for it.
“I’ve presented owners or builders with some spreadsheets saying this is what this might be worth to you, and here’s even a better number if you look at it my way,” he says.
As an organization, GLCT also has the ability to react nimbly to finance purchases, then work out a deal to turn the parcels over to other entities to own and maintain as open space.
“We have done three deals where we don’t own the land anymore,” says Red, referring to James Valley (now owned by the town), the Dudley Barrows (now property of non-profit Dudley Farm Museum), and Saw Pit (now owned by the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, or DEEP).
James Valley’s open space is near the Durham/Northford/Guilford line.
“They were doing a subdivision up there and we—the town and the land trust—we really didn’t want them to build over into some nice open space,” says Red. “So [GLCT] wound up convincing the owner that we would buy it, [and] when the town was able to raise the right amount of money, the town would buy it from us,” which the town did, with an easement granted to keep the parcel preserved as open space.
Dudley Barrows on Hoop Pole Road is now property of the Dudley Farm Museum, with some land and trails remaining in GLCT’s inventory.
“We kicked in $60,000 to help Dudley Farm get what they wanted, and we wound up getting some land also, as open space land,” says Red. “Another fun one that we did with the state was Saw Pit, down south of Soundview Avenue, across the railroad tracks.”
One of the earliest quarries in the area and also a favored summer haunt for the area’s Native Americans, Saw Pit lies in an area of the East River that includes state land managed by DEEP. Red saw the value in preserving it and put the word out to the family that owned the property that, “if you’re ever going to sell that place, I hope you’ll call me first,” he says.
“A couple of years later, I got a call. So we made a deal to buy it, and I called [DEEP] and said, ‘We bought this, but you probably ought to own it.’ So they agreed that they would buy it from us. Would they have gotten it done? I don’t know—it’s not important. But we did this with the idea that it’s good for the area and it will work itself out.”
Red and Ann raised their three children here and a lot of time was spent with the kids in the woods and waterscapes right outside their own home. The couple purchased the former Dudley Grist Mill in North Guilford in 1971 after it had been converted to a home by the previous owner. The circa 1850-’70 building still has the works of the mill running through the center of the living room and many other amazing details connected to its historic use.
Being with GLCT almost as many years as the Erda family has lived here has made Red’s service to the organization a way of life. He was encouraged to join the board through a friend in 1973 and served six years (two terms) before career demands intervened. He rejoined in 1988 and has continued assisting GLCT ever since. Red says GLCT relies on its active members and many supporters to continue to make a difference in preserving Guilford’s great outdoors.
“It is a lot of work. We have over 200 parcels of land and volunteer stewards who are out there every weekend marking boundaries, checking boundaries, building trails. It’s a remarkable thing,” says Red, noting members of Westwood Trails Committee work in harmony with GLCT on several parcels.
“I think the value to the town is there are that many people who are willing to spend time to go out and get this stuff done, and I think the people who are involved enjoy doing it,” he says.
All told, between acquisitions of GCLT (3,000 acres), those made by the town (approximately 4,500 acres), water company land (about 4,000 acres), and state preserved land (about 1,200 acres), some 31,000 acres have been secured as open space in Guilford, to date, notes Red.
“That’s a big percentage. It’s an interesting question as to when have you preserved too much for the town. I think about that, and say, ‘What do you start with?’ If it’s buildable land, you ought to build on it—but then if you drive down Route 77 and you drive down toward Bluff Head, over to the right is a big open field that Mary Rusconi sold us,” says Red of the hayfield, purchased by GCLT in 2001.
“She called and said, ‘I’m ready to sell the field’—and it was a very generous price,” recalls Red. “And that field, to me, it would have been a shame to see four big houses on it. Guilford Land Conservation Trust adds so much to the nature of the town. “
Learn more about GLCT at www.guilfordlandtrust.org.