BEDFORD HILLS, NY— Westchester Land Trust (WLT) recently added two new members to its Board of Directors:  Gary Perusse (Yorktown) and Norma Silva (Yonkers) and three new members to its Advisory Board: Brendon DeSimone (Greenwich, CT), Ellen Best (Pound Ridge), Michael Surdej (Lewisboro). The new leaders, who have extensive volunteer experience and a strong commitment to the preservation of the local environment, were elected at WLT’s June board meeting.

Mr. Perusse has more than 40 years of experience managing risk having held leadership positions at Ogden Corporation, Covanta Holding Corporation and the financial firms: Drexel, Burnham, Lambert and A. G. Becker Paribas. He is an avid backpacker and local hiker and has enjoyed week-long hikes in the Grand Canyon and along the John Muir trail.  Mr Perusse is an active member of the NYNJ Trail Conference.

Ms. Silva is a retired Special Education teacher with the Bronx Public Schools and a long-time Westchester Land Trust volunteer.  In addition to supporting WLT’s sustainable agriculture work, she has been an active volunteer steward with Yonkers Citizen Farmers, Groundwork Lower Hudson Valley, NYNJ Trail Conference, Yonkers Land Conservancy, The Bronx River Alliance, Friends of Van Cortlandt Park, and Friends of the Old Croton Aqueduct, Vine-cutters.

Mr. DeSimone is the manager of the Bedford and Pound Ridge office of Houlihan Lawrence. He has fifteen years of real estate sales, investment, and brokerage experience. He writes a weekly real estate column for the Zillow Blog which is syndicated to over 250 daily newspapers and dozens of top media sites online, including Yahoo! Homes, AOL Real Estate, FOX Business, and Forbes. Mr. DeSimone has provided leadership support for WLT’s Annual Benefit since 2016.

Ms. Best is a freelance writer and sustainable agriculture enthusiast who has written pieces for the Stamford Advocate, the Journal News, and the Westchester Section of the New York Times. She is the author of Talk of the Town / Pound Ridge column in the Record Review and has contributed content to Bedford Magazine. She and her husband own and steward land in Pound Ridge that was originally landscaped by previous owner and native plant pioneer, Sara Stein. They open their property annually in support of the Garden Conservancy’s Open Days Program. Ms. Best co-leads the Bionutrient Food Association – Westchester/NYC Chapter which holds its annual monthly potluck workshops at WLT’s Sugar Hill Farm headquarters.

Mr. Surdej is retired and most recently worked in pharmaceutical sales. He is a longtime volunteer with the Boy Scouts having supervised nearly a dozen Eagle Scout projects. He has served as a volunteer with WLT’s stewardship team for more than 7 years which inspired his community service work with the Lewisboro Land Trust and the Lewisboro Town Preserve Volunteers. Mr. Surdej currently serves on the Open Space and Preserves Advisory Committee for the Town of Lewisboro and is contributing to the construction of the 5k Cross Country Community Trail being built behind the John Jay High School campus in Cross River.

“Westchester Land Trust is fortunate to attract talented leadership with a wealth of community experience and diverse professional skills,” remarked Bruce Churchill, Chairman of the Board, during the organization’s June meeting. “We are looking forward to welcoming our new leadership into the WLT family and we are confident they will continue to contribute to our expanded land protection and stewardship work in Westchester and eastern Putnam Counties.”

WESTCHESTER LAND TRUST IS YOUR LAND TRUST

Based in Bedford Hills and celebrating its 30^th Anniversary, the Westchester Land Trust works with public and private partners to preserve land in perpetuity and to enhance the natural resources in Westchester and eastern Putnam counties—a densely populated region under persistent threat from the pressures of development.   Through the use of conservation easements and outright acquisition, WLT’s efforts benefit the long-term health of these communities by safeguarding air quality, food supply and community character, as well as critical watershed areas.  Since its founding in 1988, WLT has preserved almost 8,000 acres of open space including 745 acres of preserves owned by the organization which are free and open to the public year round.

For more information about WLT, visit westchesterlandtrust.org and connect with us on Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/WLandTrust), Instagram (@WestchesterLandTrust), and Twitter (https://twitter.com/WLT_NY)