Board of Directors

President - Ursula Cliff

A founding member of ELT, Ursula has been its president since 1997. Ursula has lived in the city, the suburbs, and the country and likes the country best of all. She was for many years a member of the Egremont Conservation Commission and is now on the boards of Project Native and the Massachusetts chapter of The Nature Conservancy. She and her husband Walter have given conservation restrictions on 125 acres on their land.

Vice President - Lois Ginsberg

Lois had been a member of ELT since its inception and a board member since 1997. A strong believer in land conservation, she and her husband, Arthur, were among the first land conservationists in Egremont. They conserved 68 acres of their property on Jug End Road in 1994. For the past 24 years, Lois has lived with her family in Egremont and New York City. A former supervisor of Special Education in New York City, Lois was the Membership Chairman of ELT for over six years and became Vice President in 2006.

Treasurer - Walter Cliff

Walter was born in Detroit and moved east for graduate law school. He practiced law in New York City for forty-five years before settling permanently in South Egremont, where what had been a vacation home became a full time residence. A founding member of ELT, he has been Treasurer since 2006. He is currently a member of the board of the Literacy Network and Chairman of the Berkshire Natural Resources Council.

Secretary - Charles Ogden

After retiring from teaching math and science at the secondary level in both private and public schools, Chuck spends his time volunteering, serving on several boards and committees (past member of the Egremont Finance Committee and Board of Selectman; current member of the Egremont Green Committee, the Library Building Committee and the Egremont Water Commission; current president of the Friends of the Egremont Free Library). Demonstrating his commitment to land conservation, he has served on ELT's Board of Directors since 2002 and has been its secretary since 2003.

Board Member - Peggy Barrett

Peggy joined ELT's board in 2007. She grew up near Baltimore and moved to Egremont in 1976 after marrying Peter who is a Great Barrington native. She has volunteered for several years at Indian Line Farm in South Egremont as a harvester/planter/weeder and with the Literacy Network as a tutor.

Board Member - Tom Haas

Tom has been an ELT board member since 2004. Before moving to Egremont with his wife, Juliette, he served as director of ABC News in NY and DC and as a producer/director of documentaries, as well as working in advertising and marketing. Tom is a past chair of the Egremont Wastewater Management Committee and a current member of the Egremont Board of Health and the Board of Selectman.

Board Member - Wendy Linscott

Wendy has spent virtually her entire life in Berkshire County and has lived in South Egremont since 1986. Since 1979 she has practiced law in the firm of Lamme & Linscott in Great Barrington where she and her partner and husband, James M. Lamme III, concentrate on real estate law and estate planning and administration. A board member of ELT since 2005, she is also a board member of the Berkshire Natural Resources Council, the Berkshire Botanical Garden, and the Berkshire Choral Institute.

Board Member - Peg Muskrat

Peg has been an ELT board member since 2005. She has lived in Egremont since 1972 where she and her husband, Jack, have raised three children. She is a woman with many local relationships as she has been Egremont's Town Clerk since 1982, teaches fifth grade at the local elementary school, and is active in many Egremont organizations. With retirement in the near future, Peg looks forward to being more involved in local activities.

Board Member - Susan Shapiro

Susan came to Egremont in 1968 and has been a board member of ELT since 1998. A ceramic artist and teacher, she is an enthusiastic gardener and angler and is interested in preservation of open spaces and stewardship of land. She and her husband David, together with three neighbors, gave a conservation restriction jointly to ELT and the Berkshire Natural Resources Council covering over 50 acres on Baldwin Hill.

Board Member - Maureen Ferguson Steiner

Maureen Ferguson Steiner joined the ELT Board in 2010. She and her husband Tom have owned a farm in Egremont since 1999, as well as a home in Hillsdale, NY, since 1984. Maureen has been a banker in NY with JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, as well as a management consultant with McKinsey & Co. She is currently a real estate investor and manager in residential real estate in NY and Florida. Maureen and Tom have three children.