Photo: Thom Unrau at KLT’s Big (Boyd/Chiminis) Island in 2023.
By Dani Couture, Annual Giving, Communications, and Engagement Manager
Thom Unrau remembers where he was the moment he found out Kawartha Land Trust (KLT) was able to permanently protect its largest nature reserve to date – a massive 1,400-acre, ecologically diverse property on the shores of Pigeon Lake in Lakehurst, Ontario.
In the fall of 2023, Thom was on a study tour of land trusts in the northeastern region of the United States. He was in Poughkeepsie, New York, driving a van full of other study participants to their next stop.
When he pulled over and checked his phone, he found a text from Executive Director John Kintare. After a push to meet a critical deadline, KLT had secured the bulk of the funding needed to protect what would become the Hammer Family Nature Preserve.
A years-long endeavour that Thom had been part of to conserve this property for future generations would become a reality. It marked one of the most significant acquisitions of private land for conservation in Peterborough County in the last 50 years.
“I just honked the horn and yelled in excitement,” Thom shares. “And then went into some meeting with the Scenic Hudson Land Trust and got to share the news with them.”
He stayed up all night thinking about what it meant and what it could mean for communities in the Kawarthas, and thought back to meaningful conversations with volunteers on KLT’s Big Island Management Advisory Team (BIMAT) seven years prior, regarding another pivotal conservation success story in KLT’s history.
From the shores of KLT’s Hammer Family Nature Preserve, you can see Big (Boyd/Chiminis) Island in the distance — the largest undeveloped island in all of the Kawarthas.
On the heels of the 2015 protection of what was KLT’s largest protected property at the time, Thom joined Kawartha Land Trust in the summer of 2016 as a Stewardship Technician, assisting with the care of this significant community asset.
“They needed someone to start doing stewardship right away, and I had volunteered for the land trust that spring managing invasive species at Dance Nature Sanctuary and doing some monitoring on other properties and was offered the position,” he shares.
On his first day, Thom jumped into work at KLT figuratively and quite literally.
“Mike Hendren, the Executive Director at the time, and I boated out to Big (Boyd/Chiminis) Island. I had a little bit of experience using boats in a previous job, but truly not very much. I think I might have oversold the extent to which I was comfortable driving boats because it became very clear, very quickly, that I didn’t really know what I was doing and needed some coaching.”
However, as they arrived at the island, Unrau spotted some garbage that had washed up and jumped into the water and started collecting it all.
“While I think Mike might have been a little dismayed at my boating capabilities at the start, I remember him later describing being very clearly impressed by my work ethic…so that was nice to feel that I was getting in there with enthusiasm.”
That summer, along with coordinating the removal of 10 garbage trucks worth of garbage from the island with the help of teams of dedicated volunteers, Thom also assisted staff and volunteers with the final push to open KLT’s Stony Lake Trails network, a now-beloved 10-kilometre community trail network on the north shore of Ston(e)y Lake in North Kawartha, and stewardship work on KLT’s protected lands.
“Starting this work with KLT, I was immediately struck by how engaged volunteers were in the organization. There was (and remains) so much enthusiasm to make these protected places ecologically healthy and welcoming to the community. I could tell there was something special going on in this organization.”
He would later become the Land Stewardship Coordinator in 2017, becoming the fourth permanent staff member on the team at the time, and later the Land Stewardship Manager, and then Director of Community Conservation.
Thom has been deeply involved in the organization’s core work to protect and care for natural and working lands in the Kawarthas, fundraising, creating nature connection opportunities, and facilitating multi-organization collaboration on shared challenges, all while keeping community at the very heart of his work.
Throughout all his years at KLT, Thom notes that he has always remained grateful for the relationships and connections made, noting the many generous mentorship opportunities that have been truly meaningful to him and his growth.
Since his first day a decade ago, a little uneasy about navigating a boat on Pigeon Lake, Thom has become a conservation leader in the Kawarthas and the land trust sector in Ontario.
In 2023, he was awarded the Ontario Land Trust Alliance’s (OLTA) Vision Award, which recognizes individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the land trust community.
“Thom is an innovator,” shares Anna Lee, Director of People and Operations.
“He likes to think outside the box to figure out how we can achieve more, by thinking and doing (working and playing) differently. His natural gift in building meaningful relationships has continued to bring people and organizations together to be part of new and emerging solutions. While Thom will be truly missed at KLT, we know that he will continue to be a champion for conservation.”
One of Thom’s many accomplishments during his tenure is leading the growth of KLT’s Partners in Conservation program — expanding the charity’s impact for nature by working with more landowners in the Kawarthas to ensure a greener, more sustainable future for all.
A transformational grant from the The Michael Young Family Foundation in 2023 to support whole landscape conservation allowed the program to expand. Today, KLT has 100 Partners in Conservation members across Peterborough County and Kawartha Lakes, bringing our total impacted lands through that program to 11,000 acres.
Thom has also been deeply passionate about creating opportunities for children to have more access to nature and was instrumental in creating a special partnership between KLT and Compass Early Learning and Care. Through this partnership, Compass ELC hosts children’s programs and day camps at KLT’s Dance Nature Sanctuary in Selwyn and Ballyduff Trails in Kawartha Lakes.
“If you are connected to nature, if you have had core memories associated with nature, if you have a land love story, if you have this moment in your past that led you to believe that this thing is important, then, that’s what makes the difference,” shares Thom, noting that it’s an imperative for organizations that work with the concept of permanence to think about playing a role in supporting young people.
“It’s just like being a parent. You see your kids growing up in nature and forming that connection and that is meaningful to them. And that doesn’t mean they go out birding every weekend, but it’s a part of their core identity. I see land trusts’ ability to protect places that are natural as a part of someone’s potential journey to creating those core memories, having those experiences.”
In the winter of 2025, Thom was seconded to work on an innovative new program launched by Zoë Mager, Regional Conservation & Climate Partnership Director — Kawartha Climate and Conservation Partnership (KCCP), a Regional Conservation and Climate Partnership, facilitated by KLT with support from the Centre for Land Conservation and Echo Foundation.
“It is an understatement to say that Thom will be missed,” shares John Kintare, Executive Director.
“He has been a consistent source of knowledge, enthusiasm, passion, excitement and innovation at Kawartha Land Trust, as well as being a wonderful person to spend time and chat with. Thom was instrumental in teaching me the ropes of the land trust movement when I joined KLT back in 2019, just as he has taught so many others over the years.”
Starting in late July, Thom will become the Director of a conservation startup in the Kawarthas called the Land Lab, founded by Ben Samann.
“We’re going to support the conservation and land trust sector in particular to take on new and creative projects that create results for people and nature in the communities they serve.”
When asked about his decade at Kawartha Land Trust, he shares that it’s been an incredible honour to be a part of something we’ve built together, something that everyone has played an important part in — something we can all be proud of.
“We all share nature as a common backdrop to our lives. We depend on it. We need it. It’s our common ground.”
From everyone at Kawartha Land Trust, we offer our deep thanks and gratitude to Thom for his contributions, vision, and optimism for what’s possible for nature and people in the Kawarthas and wish him continued success and joy. Farewell, but not goodbye!
“Do all the good you can” is the title of a song by John Wesley.
