After eight and a half years, Julie Lamy is leaving the Boothbay Region Land Trust. She said that the time is right for a change, and that she's leaving the organization in a good place.

The land trust hired Lamy as executive director in July 2005, after she moved to the area with her husband, Dr. Ramunas Stepanauskas, Single Cell Genomic Center Director at Bigelow Lab. Three months after moving here the job opened up, and it fit her requirements.

According to Lamy, the land trust's acreage nearly doubled from 2000 to 2010. It was a heady time for the organization.

“I came on board during a fast and furious time,” she said, “right after we acquired Damariscove (Island) and Roberts Wharf (adjacent to Porter Preserve, at the southern tip of Barters Island).” Both are working waterfront sites; BRLT is the only land trust in Maine to own working waterfront. “All of a sudden our obligations put us in to the big leagues,” Lamy said.

“It was a time of major transition and we grew very fast,” she said. Lamy was involved in a lot of strategic planning and organizational management work. “I worked hard to diversify and strengthen the land trust’s fundraising program,” she said.

Business partnerships were formed, resulting in sufficient support from the business community, according to Lamy. “We have wonderful annual events.”

In 2010 Lamy made the decision to go from full to part-time. She said doesn't want to miss out on any more of her 7-year-old son’s childhood.

“We had our first family vacation in July,” she said. “I remember so fondly family vacations as a child, and I thought, ‘My kid has got to have family vacations in the summer.’ I want to spend more time with my family.”

So she made the transition to part-time development director.

Nick Ullo said Lamy hired him, and when she decided to step down, he was accepted by the board of directors to take over as executive director.

“She's great,” Ullo said. “She did a lot of work to put the organization in a position where we're moving forward.” He said that the land trust hasn't made a decision about hiring someone to replace Lamy yet. “Key staff turnover provides an opportunity to look at the structure (of the organization) and allows us to consider the current staff layout and its needs and responsibilities.”

Lamy said she's leaving the land trust in a place where they're situated to sustain well into the future years. “It's really a community effort,” she said. “It's not just me.”

She’s not in a hurry to start a new job, either. For now she's leaving her options open and looking forward to spending time with her son and husband.

“I'm pretty flexible,” she said. “I’m going to be making sure that I still have time to spend with my family. I'm at a good stage in life where I know what my strengths and weaknesses are, so I'm clearly going to seek out something that pulls on my strengths. And something I care about and believe in.”

Lamy said that she enjoys getting out in the community and building consensus and hopes her future endeavors will allow her to do that again. “My goal is to pick up some contract work in the next year, and assess the lay of the land, and be as selective as I can be,” she said.

As for leaving the land trust, Lamy said, “I think that turnover is healthy and necessary. Could I have stayed longer? Yes. Would it have been good for my soul and good for the land trust? I think it'll be good for the land trust to get somebody new in here and have their new interpretation of what we do, and how to reach out to the community.

“You don't want it happening every other year, but 8 and a half years is a good run, especially in this kind of position.”

BRLT Office Manager Skye Wood said she's never met anyone with so much energy and passion for what they do as Lamy. Wood said she's learned a lot while working with Lamy for the last three years. “It has truly been a great pleasure working with her,” she said.

“And I will miss most the excitement that she brings every time she steps into a room.”

December 31 is Lamy’s last day.