Tom Duffus’s Inspiration to Give
A career conservationist on why he decided to make a legacy gift to Maine Coast Heritage Trust
What are some of your first experiences of Maine?
One of my earliest memories is from a trip I took with my family out to Whitehead Island in Muscle Ridge. That was the first time I smelled the breeze freshening off the ocean in the morning. To this day, when I catch that very particular, sweet smell, that memory rises up for me. I’ve been literally around the world, sailed across the Atlantic Ocean, been to every state but Alaska… Europe, South America, Asia… but I keep coming back here. This landscape is more subtle than the Rocky Mountains but every bit as deep in terms of its natural fortitude and beauty and diversity. To me, it’s spectacular. It’s my home.
When did you first learn about Maine Coast Heritage Trust?
When I was a teenager, I worked on the water and started really opening my eyes and seeing this amazing wilderness that was the Maine coast. Around the Deer Isle thoroughfare, there were all these wild islands, and I started asking myself, how did they come to be like this? Elsewhere on the coast, people were building, but not on these places that had been conserved.
I learned about the concept of land protection as I learned about MCHT, and it inspired my career. Here I am, 38 years later, and I’ve been able to affect the permanent protection of over 760,000 acres across 17 states and four Canadian provinces including over 185,000 acres in Maine alone. I am blessed to be working to save this place in my role with The Conservation Fund here in Maine. And I am especially fortunate to do this with MCHT as a partner and donor.
What’s the value of conservation?
The world is changing so quickly, not always for the better, and having places that people can rely on, having that sense of stability—it’s an important mental health item. It really matters to people. I think that since 2020 more people have really started to see the value of land conservation. It’s a magical moment when a community that was skeptical of land conservation says, yes, you are part of the solution. I’ve seen that happen again and again.
What makes MCHT unique?
MCHT’s leadership of the Maine Land Trust Network is extremely important. Maine’s land trust community figured out that supporting one another, rather than having sharp elbows, is how to get the work done. That tone that was set early on by MCHT and it is the DNA of land conservation in Maine—working together. I’ve done land protection all over North America and that’s the only place where this happens in an earnest way.
What inspired you to make a planned gift to MCHT?
My career has always been on the forward-end of land protection, so I have directed my modest estate gift to MCHT’s stewardship of conserved lands. Stewardship is increasingly expensive, as more places are conserved, and more people use trails, and damage sensitive places. These are real challenges, but the challenges of stewarding the land shouldn’t be a barrier to protecting more of it. My hope is that I might inspire others to give. It’s a great investment, with a permanent return.
What do you hope for the organization moving forward?
There are ongoing challenges such as sea-level rise, which I know MCHT is being very thoughtful about, and challenges of supporting communities and their connection with the natural resources. I hope MCHT keeps its focus on land protection and stewardship, which are core and essential. It’s imperative that people support this work, because it’s not done. There is a lot of land yet to be conserved.
Learn more about The Legacy Circle at Maine Coast Heritage Trust, and how you can make healthy lands, waters, coastlines, and communities a part of your legacy.