Rachel Carson's Silent Spring famously launched the environmental movement.  It also ignited a passion for environmental science in 8-year-old Ben Spinelli. 

He talked about the book so much that his teachers made special arrangements for him to attend an environmental field trip, a pivotal moment in developing a lifelong interest in taking care of the great outdoors.

"I loved everything to do with being outside," recalled Spinelli, now 51.  He did what he could to spend time in nature, handling turtles, snakes and frogs as a Wildlife Conservation Corps volunteer, and spending his free time hiking.

Leaving the amphibians behind, Spinelli parlayed his interests into a career in land preservation. Named the Westchester Land Trust's executive director just six months ago, Spinelli helped to execute projects resulting in the preservation of 601 new acres in 2009, plus developed a corporate volunteer program called Helping Hands Westchester.

After a 20-year career as a trial attorney, Spinelli gained experience in land preservation as mayor of rural Chester, New Jersey. "When I started in 1998, we had one farm and 17 acres preserved," he said. By 2007, over 2,000 acres were permanently preserved, he added. 

Spinelli believes in a comprehensive land protection strategy, a philosophy he honed while serving as executive director of the State of New Jersey's Office of Smart Growth, just prior to coming to WLT.  He worked with towns throughout the state to implement responsible local land use plans, and developed a national model for sustainable state-wide growth management.

Spinelli hopes to broaden WLT's mission of preserving land for water quality, aesthetics and habitat preservation to include a new purpose:  agricultural use.  "Agriculture has been widely overlooked so far, but Westchester County has great potential to grow its agricultural business," he said. 

The timing may be right for such outreach. A wave of interest in local foods and sustainable living had led to a proliferation of farmer's markets, as well as local entrepreneurs approaching Bedford and Katonah landowners in pursuit of farmable land. 

Spinelli and his staff are working on creating a land match program, which he hopes will faciliate relationships between farmers and landowners and provide a means for that community to network and share information. 

"By adding agriculture to our mission, we will have a new audience, and, it's important to note, a new set of supporters. In these tough times we need to be more relevant and I think that's an important part of our mission," Spinelli said, referring to the economic woes many non-profits currently face.

He accepted the job for two reasons—he enjoys seeing the direct impact of his work, as he did with the mayor's office, and he'd like to lead a less frantic life than he did in New Jersey's Smart Growth office.   

"It's definitely slower here," Spinelli grinned, as he looked out the window of the old white farmhouse in Katonah, where the WLT's offices are located. "I feel like I've been dropped from outerspace to pastoral Bedford," he laughed. "I left all my friends and colleagues—it was a big risk for me."

It's hard to believe Spinelli would have a hard time making friends, with his open face and easy laugh. Still, he said he's looking forward to having his wife join him in Westchester soon, after his son graduates high school in New Jersey. 

Meanwhile Spinelli is focused on the day-to-day operations of the Land Trust, including developing new prospects for conservation and sources for funding.  He's also trying to meet with every town supervisor in the county in order to promote land preservation with agriculture use. 

"It's nice to have pretty viewsheds, but it's more than that," he emphasized.  "We can protect more farmland, grow more local food, possibly create a few jobs and dollars spent locally.  We want to help create a community that's favorable for agriculture."