During the last Cafe, Andy Zepp, the executive director of the Finger Lakes Land Trust and a Cornell grad came to speak to us about his job managing the land trust. Land trusts, nature protection, and environmental sustainability were all fields I never had an exposure to before Cornell, as I lived in NYC my entire life. The purpose of the FLLT is to conserve the land, since the US doesn’t have as much land regulation as European countries. Zepp described the job as a balance between conservation and economic development. They negotiate with property owners about their land, and they help oversee it so that no detrimental developments occur, and ensure that people who make bad decisions can’t exploit the land. It’s a delicate balance to strike between micromanaging and safeguarding the land. Zepp also described various other projects the FLLT tries to implement, like creating a world class system of trails across, maintaining agriculture, and keeping the land clean.  My first impression was wonder about how this small nonprofit could overlook all these acres of land surrounding Ithaca, and how they are able to negotiate with so many people to ensure productive conservation. It’s a massive job and Zepp just seemed to talk about his work so matter-of-factly. I know little to nothing about conservation, land trusts, and sustainability, so just hearing about all these efforts was remarkable. It’s really interesting how so many people developed a passion for land conservation, and after living in Ithaca, I can see why.