Letter From Interim Executive Director Amy

Dear Members of our LNRP Community, 

When I first started at LNRP, it was the organization’s 20 year anniversary. What a special time to be onboarded as staff, volunteers, board and community members were considering not only what the organization should strive for in the future, but taking precious time to reflect on the accomplishments of the past.

I started at LNRP as the Director of Projects, so our restoration work will always have a special place in my heart. I think about LNRP’s very first project at Centerville Creek, which started in 2005. There was planning, outreach, earthwork, vegetation management, and an ice storm that forced us to do it all over again. Now, decades from the start, LNRP is revisiting the restoration site, addressing its shortcomings and making a plan that further invests in that creek and watershed. I am proud to say that we are still working with those who were there at the very beginning: the university partners, community members, and environmental engineers. Yes, we have expanded our vision for the work, but the core mission and goals of the project remain the same as they were 20 years ago. 

As I step into a new position as Interim Executive Director, I think often about the future direction of the organization. What do we need to do differently? How can LNRP grow to be an even better advocate for our communities and their water quality? What changes need to be made so that this organization can thrive for 10, 20 or 50 more years? The more I think about it, the more I realize that we have a great foundation on which to build. That foundation is all of you, the people that understand how water quality improvements can help create thriving communities. 

Our organizational structure may look different today, but this new chapter amplifies our original intent  “to foster partnerships, cultivate projects, promote discussion and advocate for a balance between land use and natural resource conservation and protection”. It is  an honor to carry on this mission while exploring new ways to enact it; it is an honor to be on this journey with all of you. 

Amy Lentz
Interim LNRP Executive Director