Stewards Magazine

"I turned 60 last year, and sometimes I’m asked, ‘Glen, are you tired of this? Do you ever get bored?’ I tell them I’ve never been more fired up, and that I’m not going anywhere. We’ve got to finish what we started.”

Glen Chown (BS ’83, MS ’86), executive director of the Grand Traverse Regional Land Conservancy (GTRLC), has good reason to be “fired up,” and the countless Michiganders who have benefited from his advocacy throughout the decades are glad to hear that he’ll be sticking around.

Chown traces the beginning of his career to a paid internship he was awarded while completing his master’s degree. In the mid-1980s, The Nature Conservancy (TNC) Michigan chapter had a staff of only four, and Chown became its first intern.

“SEAS gave me my launchpad,” says Chown.

That launch propelled him to the TNC Virginia chapter, and then on to Michigan’s Little Traverse Conservancy in 1988. Before long, Chown was approached by Rotary Charities, a nonprofit public foundation interested in establishing a conservancy to protect the Grand Traverse region from rapid overdevelopment. In 1991, GTRLC was incorporated—with Chown at the helm.

Asked what he is most proud of in his career, Chown doesn’t hesitate. “It’s the impact we’ve made,” says Chown. “We have 46,000 acres and nearly 150 miles of undeveloped shoreline protected in what is arguably one of the most beautiful places on the planet.

“I tell people I’m in the ‘forever business,’” he adds. “It’s not just for now, it’s forever. And that’s an incredible legacy.”

Arcadia Dunes

An achievement close to Chown’s own heart is the Coastal Campaign, launched in 2003—a multi-year effort to protect 6,300 acres of premium dune, farm and forest land along 3.5 miles of Michigan’s coast. The property owner, CMS Energy, was seeking private developers to purchase the tract.

“It was a David and Goliath story,” says Chown. “We were a small nonprofit with a staff of eight, and suddenly we needed to raise over $35 million in an incredibly short period of time. It was audacious. But we decided to give it our best effort, and leave no stone unturned.”

The first milestone—a $7.5 million challenge grant issued by the Mott Foundation—stipulated that GTRLC raise $5 million from local people in the 90 days between Memorial Day and Labor Day.

“Our third child had just been born, but my family rarely saw me that summer,” recalls Chown. “I was talking to people 24/7 about what was at stake. Amazingly, the entire community wrapped their arms around us. There were 18-year-old waitresses saving money for college at the Watervale Inn who contributed 50% of their tips. That’s one example of people making a heroic effort. We pulled it off. We realized that if you dream big, you can do big things.”