New offices to open March 1

By Andra Moss

The Board of Trustees of Great Mountain Forest (GMF) has announced that it will move its headquarters to offices in downtown Norfolk’s Station Place as of March 1. GMF is a privately-operated foundation utilizing its 6,300 acres of land straddling Norfolk and Falls Village for forestry research, education and recreation. 

According to Susan MacEachron, chair of the GMF board, the organization will lease two offices on the second level of Station Place for its administrative staff, relocating from a 19th century house on Canaan Mountain Road that was donated to the nonprofit more than a decade ago. Among other advantages of the move, such as reliable internet access, the GMF staff, which includes the interim executive director, director of programs and operations, office manager and bookkeeper, will now have easy access to the Hub and Norfolk Library, which are frequent locations for GMF off-site public programs and other meetings.  

MacEachron said that the organization is looking forward to increasing its presence in the heart of Norfolk and to becoming “a greater part of the community.” This summer marks the 75th anniversary of GMF’s forestry student intern program and several activities are already being planned to celebrate the milestone.    

The move, said MacEachron, is a natural step in the organization’s ongoing outreach efforts. “We want more people to know that GMF is an integral part of Norfolk.”