Eric has been CFPA’s Executive Director since May 2008. Prior to CFPA, Eric was the Executive Director for the Farmington River Watershed Association. Eric holds an M.S. in Environmental Science/Range Management from U.C. Berkeley, and a B.A. in History from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Eric is the lead advocate for CFPA at the state legislature where he works primarily on forestry, recreation, conservation education, and trail-related policy issues. Eric led CFPA’s efforts to secure recreational liability reform to encourage municipal entities to open their lands for recreation, as well as helped protect 14,000 acres of forests in the 10-Mill program by easing tax burdens on landowners. Eric worked with CFPA and as Treasurer of the Protect CT Public Lands Coalition, Inc. to place Question #2 on the statewide ballot in Connecticut. This ballot question passed with ~85% support in 2018 adding a new Amendment to Connecticut’s constitution that will protect State Parks, Forests, and Wildlife Management Areas from being given away by the Legislature without adequate public input.
Eric currently serves on the Boards of the Connecticut Land Conservation Council, Friends of CT State Parks, and of Connwood Foresters, Inc. He is also on the Steering Committee for the Friends of Auerfarm Scenic Reserve, and the Working Lands Alliance.
Eric enjoys working on difficult conservation challenges, and was appointed as Chair of the State Vegetation Management Task Force which was formed by the Department of Energy & Environmental Protection in April 2012 to balance the sometimes-conflicting goals of safe roads, reliable electricity, and healthy roadside forests. Eric has also served as Co-Chair of the Environment Committee assembled to provide policy recommendations to the Lamont/Bysiewicz Administration, as Chair of the Forests Sub-Group making recommendations to the Governor’s Council on Climate Change in 2020, and as the Chair of the Working Group on Policy on Resilient Forests for Connecticut’s Future (PRFCT Future).
In his 30 year conservation career, Eric has also worked for the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation on both coasts, the Center for Ecological Technology in Northampton, and for the late Congressman Silvio O. Conte who represented Western Massachusetts.