The staff and Board of Trustees of Hunterdon Land Trust are mourning the loss of our former colleague Katherine Buttolph, who passed away peacefully with her loved ones at her bedside on Saturday, September 2.

Kate joined Hunterdon Land Trust in 2004 as a contract worker, and was a vital part of our organization as our land acquisition director until 2014.

Executive Director Catherine Suttle shared an office with Kate for several years, remembering her as a “force of nature.”

“I’m sure many share the sadness I feel about Kate’s passing,” Catherine said. “But knowing her, she would not want us to stay sad for long. So I will instead dwell on the laughter we shared when we worked together at HLT. Kate was a force of nature when it came to land preservation. She will be long remembered here for all the good work she did toward preserving land in the Hunterdon County region.”

Kate played a vital role in so many of our preservation victories, such as the Idell Preserve in Kingwood Township, during her decade with us.

After leaving HLT, Kate headed north where she worked as a consultant for The Conservation Fund in Vermont and a land conservation specialist with Mass Audubon.

In a recent interview with her alumni magazine, Kate said she loved land preservation because she felt her work was making a difference in the world. She certainly made a difference here in Hunterdon County, where her legacy can be found among the verdant hills and charming walking trails of many of our most beautiful places.