Page 45 - BusinessWest February 17, 2021

Pete Westover
Founder
and Partner,
Conservation
Works, LLC
When It Comes to Land Preservation, He’s Been a Trailblazer
Leah Martin Photography
By George O’Brien
Pete Westover says his appreciation of, and pas- sion for, outdoor spaces traces back to a fam- ily vacation trip to, among other places, Rocky
Mountain National Park in Colorado, or Rocky, as it’s called, when he was 12.
The park, which spans the Continental Divide, is famous for its grand vistas, high alpine meadows, and dramatic walking trails, some of them at elevations of 10,000 feet or more. And, suffice to say, the park made quite an impression on the young middle-school student.
“There’s bighorn sheep and mountain goats
and all kinds of great wildlife and flora,” he noted, adding that he’s been back several times since. “The road goes well over 11,000 feet, so you’re up there among the peaks.”
It was this trip that pretty much convinced Westover he wanted to spend his working life outdoors. And if he needed any more convincing, he got it while working in a hospital just after
high school, at a time when he was still thinking about going to medical school and following in the footsteps of his father, who became a doctor.
“Pete has dedicated his entire career to conserving land and creating trails — the Valley’s forests and farms simply would not be
as intact as they are today if Pete Westover hadn’t been a prime champion for their protection.”
“I realized, there’s no way I want to spend
my time in time in a hospital or a clinic,” he told BusinessWest, adding that he instead pursued a master’s degree in forest ecology at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies.
Thus, as they might say in what has become his line of work, he took a different trail than the one he originally envisioned. Actually, those who know him would say he’s blazed his own trail — in every aspect of that phrase.
DIFFERENCE
FEBRUARY 17, 2021 45
It has led to an intriguing and highly rewarding career that has included everything from work on a helicopter forest-fire
crew in Northern California when he was in college to a 30-year stint as conservation director for the town of Amherst, to his current role as founder and partner of Conservation Works, a conservation firm involved with open space and agricultural land protection; ecological and land-stewardship assistance to land trusts, towns, colleges, and other entities; and other services.
Described as a “legend” by one of those who nominated him for the Difference Maker award, Dianne Fuller Doherty, retired executive director of the Massachusetts Small Business Development Center Network’s Western Mass. office (and a Difference Maker herself in 2020), Westover has earned a number of accolades over the years.
These include the Valley Eco Award for Distinguished Service to Our Environment, in his case for ‘lifetime dedication and achievement’; the Governor’s Award for Open Space Protection; the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission’s Regional Service Award; the Massachusetts Assoc. of Conservation Commissions’ Environmental Service Award; and even the Millicent A. Kaufman Distinguished Service Award as Amherst Area Citizen of the Year.
And now, he can add Difference Maker to that list, a title that certainly befits an individual who has preserved thousands of acres of land, created hundreds of miles of trails, and even helped innumerable parks and other open spaces identify and hopefully eradicate invasive species.
“Pete has dedicated his entire career to conserving land and creating
BusinessWest