Woods & Waters Land Trust

Mary Margaret was the Library Director at Georgetown College for twenty years, until her retirement in 2011. She has extensive experience in accreditation, budgeting, and personnel. Previously she worked for twelve years as a research analyst at the University of Kentucky College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment, including three years as a seed purity analyst.

Mary Margaret grew up in Louisville, Kentucky. Her interest in nature began when she was 8 years old and spent two weeks at Girl Scout camp. She also spent many happy summers on an aunt’s diversified farm in Grant County, Kentucky, where she gained an appreciation for locally-grown food, sustainable agriculture, and the hard work needed on a family farm to make a living but also to improve the land for future generations.

She and her husband Eugene Lacefield own 330 acres in Henry County, much of which is now a Kentucky State Nature Preserve. About 200 of those acres are in woods, including a mile-long stretch on Drennon Creek. They built their own solar house in the 1980’s and more recently installed solar panels that supply 90% of their electrical power needs.

Mary Margaret served as the Chair of the WWLT Performance Excellence Committee for many years, Secretary of the Board and as Treasurer of the Kentucky Land Trusts Coalition (KLTC).

Morgan Jones grew up hiking, camping, cross-country skiing and biking in the woods of Northeastern Pennsylvania. The area was in the process of being developed from rural farmland and forest to subdivisions, shopping centers and office parks, and through this he learned the importance of land conservation and good stewardship. He earned a degree in forest resources management from West Virginia University and worked as a tree planter and consulting forester before moving to Kentucky in 1983 to work as a forester for the Division of Forestry in Graves and Bell Counties. He moved to Frankfort in 1988 and later served as the coordinator of the Wild Rivers Program at the Division of Water for 19 years. There, he initiated a successful land acquisition program for river corridor lands, using the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund. He is now retired and fighting exotic invasive plants and messing with trees in northeastern Shelby County.

Morgan served on the Board of Directors 2011-2020.

Andrew has lived in Owen and Franklin Counties all his life. He has worked for the state Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Cabinet, the Legislative Research Commission (LRC), and the City of Frankfort as city arborist and manager of Cove Spring Park/Nature Preserve.

Andrew’s love and appreciation for nature began in childhood on the family farm which he and his brothers cherish. He has a Master’s Degree in Botany/Ecology from the University of Kentucky.

Andrew was a founding board member and served on the Board of Directors from 2007 to 2020.

Kay, like many on the Board, learned about conservation from someone early in life, her grandfather. On their family farm in Tennessee, he was keenly aware that when bottomlands along the river were used for row crops, erosion gullies formed. Having a farmer’s respect and awareness of the land, he repaired the gullies and no longer tilled the bottomland. He continually reminded Kay and her family that they’re not making more land so you should take care of it.

Kay received a degree in Biology, learning more about and developing her healthy respect for the natural relationships among animals, plants, and their habitat. She has come to believe that the best chance of keeping our planet healthy is to preserve these complex natural systems. She started her career teaching and then worked in Kentucky state government in environmental protection. Her work focused on water quality issues. When she left, she decided to continue to help preserve Kentucky’s ecosystems by working with nonprofit organizations that further the goal of land and water protection. She has served for many years on the Executive Council of the Kentucky Land Trusts Coalition.

Kay was a founding board member and served on the Board of Directors from 2007 to 2020.