Episode 29: Lynn McNamara, Nature Conservancy Vermont

In this episode of Green Mountain Disability Stories, we welcome Lynn McNamara, from the Nature Conservancy Vermont. Lynn joins CDCI Communications Manager Audrey Homan to talk about what the Nature Conservancy Vermont learned in building accessible natural outdoor areas in Monkton, and Hartland Vermont.

“I think the trails that we’ve improved accessibility on also seem to protect the natural features more. We’ve found that our accessible trails and boardwalks hold up better to increased traffic. We have less erosion, and even with some of the storms that we’ve had in the last couple of years, they hold up better because they’re designed to have better drainage so that the surface stays level and firm for folks with disabilities. But it’s also protecting the natural areas around them a little better.”

Lynn is the family member of someone with a disability.

https://youtu.be/7hLHuPpZa1Q

A full transcript for the episode appears below. You can also download the transcript.

Audrey Homan: Welcome to Green Mountain Disability Stories. Today on the show, I have Lynn McNamara, who is going to talk to us about some accessibility challenges that have come up in Vermont, in Vermont’s outdoor natural areas. And Lynn is something of an expert in this area. So Lynn, can you go ahead and introduce yourself? Tell us your name, your pronouns, what town you live or work in and give us a brief verbal description of yourself.

Lynn McNamara: Sure. So my name is Lynn McNamara and I use she/her pronouns. I’m the Stewardship Director at The Nature Conservancy based out of our Montpelier office. So I’m responsible for overseeing the management and monitoring of all of our conserved lands here in Vermont.

Audrey: Fantastic. And can you tell us a little bit more about how your stewardship position interacts with access to those lands?

Lynn: Sure. So to start with a little more about The Nature Conservancy, which I will try not to use acronyms, but if I say TNC, I’m referring to The Nature Conservancy, which is a global organization and we’re focused on protecting the lands and waters on which all life depends. And we do that in many ways all around the world from things like investing in water funds in Belize to supporting climate smart forestry practices, restoring American bison in the Great Plains.

And here in Vermont, we own and manage about 57 natural areas that protect rare species or natural communities, do things like improve habitat connectivity for wildlife, but also provide opportunities for people to connect with nature. We think one of the most important ways to get people to support our work and care about conservation is to get out and experience nature.

So as the Stewardship Director, my role is to maintain or improve the condition of these special places that we’ve protected and at the same time, provide a safe and welcoming experience for visitors. And so that also intersects with disability access because we want to, as much as we can, make these places accessible for everyone.

Audrey: Thank you. Now, can you tell me a little bit about your own experience with disability in Vermont as a family member of someone with a disability?

Lynn: Yeah. So in my 25 years or so of living in Vermont, I’ve been so happy to see how much improvement has been to disability access over the years, particularly in the outdoors. The efforts in the last five to 10 years to have more accessible trails across the state has been really wonderful and has made it possible for me to get out in nature with my stepfather who has a mobility disability. So as a kid, we did lots of outdoor activities like hiking and fishing and biking, but after my dad injured his back, those things were no longer possible. And when I first moved to Vermont after college, getting around and seeing the state was really difficult for him, especially in winter when snow and ice can make otherwise accessible areas, even sidewalks, really treacherous and sometimes just not possible. But I feel like that’s slowly improved.

And especially in the last few years, it’s been great to bring him to some places that have accessible trails like Raven Ridge or the Barnes Camp Boardwalk up in Smuggler’s Notch. So I feel like things have really been improving fairly recently.

Audrey: So have your dad’s experiences influenced how you approach your stewardship work with The Nature Conservancy?

Lynn: Yeah, they definitely have. I think the first time I brought him out to visit one of our preserves, I don’t remember, it was maybe five years, it was before COVID, probably five years ago or so, but I’ve been working at The Nature Conservancy for almost 18 years and so he wasn’t able to see my work before then. Not really. I’d send pictures and things.

But I think like most dads, he’s proud of what I do. And being able to show him firsthand was just really special for me.

And it definitely has made me think more about what can I do to make these places more accessible for as many people as possible? I think it’s easy for folks to think like,

“Well, Vermont is very hilly and steep and there’s no way that could be accessible.”

And yes, a lot of places in Vermont are hilly and steep, but there’s a lot that are not and there’s many ways to improve accessibility for a variety of disabilities. It’s not always just for mobility access.

Audrey: Now, The Nature Conservancy of Vermont has done work in the area of making some of the natural outdoor areas more accessible for people with mobility disabilities. Can you talk a little bit about what some of those processes have been like?

Lynn: Yeah. Well, when we first started thinking about improving accessibility was probably maybe around 2012. And that started with our Eshqua Bog Natural Area, which is in Hartland, Vermont, just a few miles outside of downtown Woodstock. And it was one of our most visited natural areas.

It’s beautiful bog, really it’s a fen, but it’s called a bog, that is home to thousands probably of showy lady’s slippers that bloom every June. And we had an old boardwalk there that was built before my time, I’m not quite sure when, but it had slowly been heaving and was sinking into the bog. It had no railings or bumpers and it could get pretty slippery.

And as it deteriorated, we also began hearing from visitors that it was no longer possible for them to visit with their parents or grandparents who loved to see the showy lady’s slippers.

So when it was time to replace the boardwalk, I pushed hard to make sure that it met accessibility guidelines so that it would be welcoming for everyone, but it would also provide increased protection for the rare plants that live in the bog because it wouldn’t be sinking into the bog anymore. We were going to raise it up to get a little more light to improve the habitat for the plants.

And that also meant people were less likely to step off the boardwalk into the bog and not trample plants as much.

But this was a huge learning experience for me. I really had no idea what I was getting into. I’m like:

“Oh, we’ll just replace the boardwalk, no big deal.”

But there’s a lot of permitting involved that I wasn’t prepared for. So while the project sounded great, it took probably a year longer than planned just to complete the permitting and the fundraising that we needed to do.

But in the end, we were able to raise the money through we had a state recreation trails program grant, we had some private foundations who supported the project as well as a lot of fundraising just through individual gifts.

There were a lot of people who really support that kind of accessibility project. So even though the price tag was pretty big, I think in around 2013 when that happened, that project probably cost I want to say around $125,000, which was definitely probably the biggest stewardship project we had ever done on one of our preserves. But it’s been a wonderful success and we’ve had so much gratitude from folks that live nearby, plus folks that have traveled really from great distances to out there and visit.

It’s just really been a wonderful experience all around.

Audrey: What’s one thing you’d really like listeners to know about your work with The Nature Conservancy expanding accessibility in Vermont’s outdoor natural areas?

Lynn: I think not just for The Nature Conservancy expanding, but for so many state agencies and municipalities and Green Mountain National Forest, there are so many people working to expand accessibility to nature in Vermont right now. And I think people should not be resigned that they’re not welcome in nature, that there are a lot of people across the state who are working to improve accessibility all over the place. And while sometimes it can be difficult to find the places that are accessible just because

I’m not really aware of one sort of repository that can tell you where they’re… Trailfinder and AllTrails have filters, but I feel like they’re not always super accurate. But I would tell people to not only find those places, but also continue to push for increased accessibility and improved access routes and public transportation to those places so that you’re able to get out