Land Trust Director Resigns

After Less Than Year In Post

COOPERSTOWN – Citing family commitments, John Winter, Otsego Land Trust executive for less than a year, will be resigning, the Land Trust announced today.

Because of those commitments, he has been unexpectedly delayed relocating to the Cooperstown area and will not be able to do so for another two years.

This development has made performance of his duties difficult and he offered his resignation to the Land Trust’s board of directors at their last meeting.  The board accepted his resignation with regret.

Winter will be leaving at the end of December. The Land Trust has already initiated a search for a new executive director and hopes to have one in place in time to facilitate a smooth transition.

Since assuming leadership of the Land Trust staff, Winter has been instrumental in recent successes, the announcement said.  He succeeded Virginia Kennedy, who resigned to join her husband, who had accepted a job in Maryland.

Opportunities to protect land in addition to the 10,000-acre mark reached last year are under way and new easements will be announced when they are completed.

Construction of improvements to Brookwood Point will be finished by the end of this year and a fund has been established to maintain that property for the next seven years.

“I am very sorry about John’s resignation,” said Land Trust chair Harry Levine, “but we understand that the demands of this job are heavy and that the added burden of a long commute presented an unworkable situation for him.”