By STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—The Moosalamoo Association has announced that Susan Johnson of Brandon has become its new Executive Director after the recent departure of Susan Hoxie, who left the position to relocate out of state.
MA is a nonprofit civilian organization that works in conjunction with the U.S. Forest Service to maintain and promote the vast, federally owned Moosalamoo National Recreation Area (MNRA), which was established in 2006 and covers over 15,000 acres primarily in Salisbury, Goshen, and Ripton. Popular spots within MNRA include Silver Lake, Falls of Lana, and the Blueberry Management Area (not to be confused with the privately owned Blueberry Hill Recreation Area in Goshen).
A native of the Washington, D.C. area, Ms. Johnson moved to Brandon from Colorado in 2021 and comes to the Moosalamoo Association with 16 years of experience with the National Park Service in Colorado. Her tenure at the Park Service encompassed policy work in air quality and climate change.
“I’m happy to get back into this kind of work,” Johnson said. “It was nice when Sue [Hoxie] approached me about this position.”
“It’s important to find a balance between recreation and conservation,” Johnson continued, who noted the marked difference between the overcrowded parks she knew in Colorado and the relatively serene resources here in Vermont.
“The Association has done a lot over the last few years to open up the area—new trails especially—but the area’s natural resources have a lot of economic value to towns like Brandon and Middlebury that are gateways to tourists who come to hike and ski and stay in our hotels and eat in our restaurants.”
MNRA is open year-round for hiking and there are trails for backcountry skiing, most of which are maintained by the Moosalamoo Association rather than by the Forest Service, which does not have the staff to keep up the extensive network of trails.
Association Board President Angelo Lynn welcomed Johnson on board in a newsletter sent out last week and thanked outgoing Executive Director Susan Hoxie.
“We absolutely couldn’t have made the progress these past years without Sue’s incredible organization, determination to see things through, and keen ability to keep the MA board committed to the numerous projects we had on our plate,” said Lynn. “We can’t thank her enough and wish her all the best.”
Four new Board members are also joining MA: Joanie Donahue of Cornwall, Wendy Leeds of Ripton, Bill Sessions of Weybridge, and Keith Wilkerson of Bristol.
Ms. Leeds wrote in an e-mail to The Reporter that she is “interested in efforts that increase accessibility and encourage a stewardship mindset—the more time people spend in nature, the better…And I’m curious about the intersection between the different kinds of users in the MNRA and how we can be community builders.”
The Association spends roughly $50K per year on its efforts to maintain and improve the MNRA. Approximately $5K-$10K of that money comes through donations, the remainder through grants and MA’s partnership with the Forest Service.
Anyone interested in finding out more about the Moosalamoo Association, or donating to help support their efforts, can visit moosalamoo.org. Memberships are available, which provide maps, updates about events, volunteer opportunities, and construction projects.
“We’d like to focus more on education and conservation,” said Susan Johnson. “But we also want people to understand the physical and mental benefits of enjoying the MNRA. We want to get people to understand the value of what they have in their backyard.”
