Chris Bunch takes the reins as executive director of Six Rivers Regional Land Conservancy

May 9, 2011

By Six Rivers Regional Land Conservancy

The conservation ethic of Christopher C. Bunch reaches back to childhood. Vacation days canoeing, fishing, hunting, and exploring the woods of his great grandfather’s 160 acre property in west Michigan gave him a passion for the land which shaped his career. And it accounts for the excitement he brings to his new job as executive director of the Six Rivers Regional Land Conservancy.

“Six Rivers has a thorough understanding of the landscape, a good set of priorities and a strong corps of volunteers,” says Bunch. “We have the opportunity now to build the organization’s capacity, to increase the pace of conservation.” He sees “expanding the constituency and increasing the level of service to the communities we serve” as key steps towards this goal. “We need to connect people to the land, make our work visible, be seen by an increasing number of people as a treasured asset to the communities.”

Bunch’s land conservancy leadership experience includes the executive directorship of Ohio’s Medina Summit Land Conservancy. He also served as field director of the Western Reserve Land Conservancy, Medina Summit Chapter. Since 2006 he has been a private consultant for land conservation, which has included work as contract land protection specialist for the Land Conservancy of West Michigan. (A conservation easement held by that conservancy now protects forever the land he so loved as a child.)

As a tax-exempt non-profit whose sole object is land conservation, Bunch says, “we need to focus on building a land acquisition fund which will allow us to conserve the properties on our priority list when they become available. We can do this by purchasing the land or a conservation easement on it, receiving a donation of land or easement -- or by helping public organizations which will accomplish the goal.”

Bunch’s life experience, which began as an apprentice auto mechanic and included carpentry, farming and real estate work, “gives him a down-to-earth approach to problem solving,” says Six Rivers Board President Gail Danto of Bloomfield Hills. “Working as a land conservancy professional, he has acquired an array of skills which will be important to us, such as organizational development, land protection, fundraising, public, board and government relations, budget setting and management, and oversight of employees and volunteers.” A number of significant volunteer positions, such as the regional vice presidency of Michigan United Conservation Clubs have added to his conservation experience.

The mission of Six Rivers is to “conserve, sustain and connect natural areas, lands and waters that make the places we live special.” Memberships, donations and grants fund its land protection, stewardship and operations. Chris Bunch works under an elected volunteer board of directors. The Six Rivers professional staff also includes Land Protection Specialist Dane Truscott, Stewardship Director Heather Huffstutler and Operations and Stewardship Manager Amanda Kowalski.

Six Rivers was founded in 1990 as the Oakland Land Conservancy. In 2008, when it began conservation in watersheds beyond the boundaries of Oakland County’s Rouge, Clinton and Huron, the conservancy took a new name to help describe the natural areas drained by the Flint, Shiawassee and Belle rivers.

A member of the Washington D.C.—based Land Trust Alliance (LTA), Six Rivers formally subscribes to the extensive LTA manual of “Standards and Practices,” as do the more than 1,200 land trusts nationwide. Its office is in the Paint Creek Cider Mill, 4480 Orion Road, Rochester 48306 (P.O. Box 80902, Rochester 48308). For information: 248-601-2816.