Lars Botzojorns grew up in Massachusetts but came to know the Green Mountains in his youth as he pursued climbing the New England 4,000-footers. After working in the Appalachian Mountain Club hut system in the White Mountains of New Hampshire in the 1980s he moved to Vermont with his wife.
Lars has a master’s degree in natural resources planning. In 1992 he joined the GMC staff as director of field programs, and became intimately familiar with the Long Trail System and the Appalachian Trail in Vermont. During his tenure with GMC, he worked closely with the club’s sections and management partners.
Lars was GMC’s interim executive director for six months. He left the club’s staff in 1999 to work as executive director of Keeping Track, a regional organization devoted to wildlife conservation planning and education. In 2004 his passion for education took hold, and he began teaching fourth grade in Jericho, where he teaches his students about forest ecology and Vermonters’ interaction with the land.
Lars is chair of the Bolton Conservation Commission, and in the last ten years he has led efforts to protect and manage the town’s 400-acre Preston Pond Conservation Area, which includes a trail system adjacent to the Long Trail.
