The Rhode Island Land Trust Council has awarded Abigail Brooks of Little Compton the Peter Merritt Award for Land Conservation, the council’s highest honor for volunteer service, recognizing more than two decades of commitment to protecting the land and character of her community.
The award was presented at the council’s annual meeting on June 22 at Tower Hill Brewing Co. in South Kingstown. Named in memory of Peter Merritt, a leader and founding member of the Aquidneck Island Land Trust, the award honors “in the trenches” volunteers — people who do the hands-on work of conservation on the ground.
Brooks has a long history of volunteer leadership, serving on the Sakonnet Preservation Association board for more than two decades. During her 19-year tenure as president, the association has preserved 137 additional acres, bringing its total conserved acreage to 488 acres. Brooks oversaw the complex process of becoming accredited by the Land Trust Alliance in 2011, along with re-accreditation in 2016 and 2021, and led the organization’s transition from an all-volunteer group to a staffed one.
She also served on the board of the Rhode Island Land Trust Council from 2007 to 2015, worked on the planning committee for the 2014 Land Trust Alliance Rally in Providence, was a founding member of the alliance’s Excellence Program in 2010 and serves on the Audubon Society of Rhode Island Council of Advisors. Brooks led the association’s cooperative efforts with other land trusts, including the Little Compton Agricultural Conservancy Trust, The Nature Conservancy, the Westport Land Conservation Trust in Massachusetts and the Tiverton Land Trust for the Nonquit and Watson Reservoir Protection Project.
“We were thrilled to recognize Abigail with this well-deserved honor,” said Kate Sayles, executive director of the Rhode Island Land Trust Council. “Her dedication has made such an outsized difference to the conservation community in Little Compton and beyond.”
Brooks said she was grateful for the recognition. “What an honor it is to be included among those who have received this prestigious award from the Rhode Island Land Trust Council,” she said. “None of us do this conservation work without the support of remarkable mentors, strong partnerships, and collaborative colleagues. This award is a capstone to the privilege I have experienced as part of Rhode Island’s conservation community.”
The Rhode Island Land Trust Council is a coalition of more than 50 land trusts working to protect open space, farms, forests and natural areas. The council advocates for conservation policy, supports land trust capacity building and promotes public engagement with the natural world. More information is available at rilandtrusts.org.
