Steven Hufnagel, the longtime Lands and Stewardship coordinator for the Damariscotta River Association has been named as the group’s Executive Director.
“It is good to be back home. There is nothing closer to my heart than that (Damariscotta) river,” Hufnagel said expressing a special fondness for Seal Cove.
Hufnagel left the DRA last summer when he accepted a position with the Maine Coast Heritage Trust as a project manager. As such he was responsible to work on land acquisition and conservation easements and islands in the Trust’s focus area ranging from Phippsburg to Kittery.
He also serves as chair of the Damariscotta Planning Advisory Committee, which recently completed a community-wide planning exercise to provide direction to town officials for possible future development.
He is expected to take over the helm of the DRA in early December.
Damariscotta Town Manager Greg Zinser called the Hufnagel appointment a “phenomenal choice.”
“Steven has a proven track record working with our town and we are very happy with the DRA choice,” Zinser said.
Hufnagel, a Damariscotta resident, said he looks forward to working with the community and Zinser, especially on the proposed bike path from the DRA headquarters on Belvedere Road to the Round Top Farm.
In a press release announcing Hufnagel’s appointment, the association said: “Steven has more than twelve years of experience in the environmental field, knowledge of the DRA program mission, familiarity with members and volunteers, and a deep love of our community.
“The DRA Board members anticipate a long and productive tenure for Steven, and are optimistic that the organization will build on its strong reputation in conservation and education.”
Hufnagel earned an undergraduate degree in environmental studies from Williams College and a master’s in resource policy and behavior from the School of Natural Resources & Environment at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor.
He grew up on the Mianus River in Bedford, N.Y. where he was engaged in local land use policies. After college, he moved to Seattle, Wash. where he served as an environmental education and outreach consultant to natural resource agencies and was an active volunteer for the Washington Conservation Voters.
