Next time you’re admiring the view from the top of Bald Hill or walking the paths at Fitton Green, say a quiet “thank you” to Meg Campbell. Because without her, some of the most cherished green spaces in Corvallis and Benton County might not be there for you to enjoy today.
Marguerite Ellen Campbell, known as Meg to her friends, died June 5 at the age of 96. She is remembered for many things, including her love of music, her gracious manners, her beautiful home and garden, her volunteer work and her lifelong passion for the outdoors.
But among her most enduring contributions to life in the mid-Willamette Valley must be counted the Greenbelt Land Trust, which she helped get off the ground 30 years ago.
Campbell and her husband, Homer (who died in 2002), were among the early ringleaders of the nonprofit conservation group instigated by the late Charlie Ross, who was inspired by the blend of green fields and urban development he had seen on a visit to England.
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“Charlie, as he did with so many people, took (Campbell) to the top of Bald Hill,” said Jessica McDonald, Greenbelt’s associate director. “He wanted her to see what he saw.”
What he saw was a future in which Corvallis and other urbanizing mid-Willamette Valley communities were encircled by natural open spaces preserved for all to enjoy — and Meg Campbell played a crucial role in bringing that future to pass.
“They stood up there and looked out over the landscape, and Mom caught the vision that Charlie had brought back from Europe in that moment,” recalled Campbell’s daughter, Janet Cornelius.
“It was their collaboration that that really got the ball rolling.”
Cornelius noted that hundreds of volunteers have given unstintingly of their time and energy to Greenbelt over the years and said her mother would be uncomfortable being given too much credit for the group’s success.
Still, there’s no doubt that Campbell played a vital role.
Many of the meetings and brainstorming sessions that led to the land trust’s formation took place around Meg Campbell’s kitchen table, McDonald said, and when it was formally organized in 1989, Campbell was its first president, a post she would hold for the next six years.
It was Campbell who spearheaded the fledgling land trust’s first property acquisition, the 1990 purchase of 54 acres on the west side of Bald Hill. Not only did she negotiate with the property owners, McDonald said, she also persuaded the Nature Conservancy to lend Greenbelt the money to buy the land (the first such loan ever made by the conservancy to another group), then led a fundraising drive to pay off the loan in less than a year.
Thirteen acres of the original land acquisition was sold off to help repay the loan, but Greenbelt was ultimately able to donate 41 acres to expand Bald Hill Natural Area, with the city of Corvallis taking title to the land and Greenbelt retaining a conservation easement ensuring it would never be developed.
From there, Campbell went on to orchestrate the purchase of additional acreage to expand Open Space Park (now known as Fitton Green), a Benton County-owned natural area that had already benefited from land donations made by the Rosses.
“Meg was the early torch-bearer in acquiring those iconic properties that people identify with Greenbelt,” McDonald said.
Relationships
But it wasn’t just about adding parkland — it was also about building working relationships.
As it did with the city of Corvallis at Bald Hill, Greenbelt turned over title to the Fitton Green property to Benton County while holding onto a conservation easement, ensuring the land would be managed for conservation (as well as recreation) in perpetuity.
That approach, McDonald said, helped set the tone for the land trust’s future partnerships with government entities and private landowners, an important factor in the organization’s growth and long-term success.
Campbell also was instrumental in creating a highly influential report in 1990 that laid out a road map for future open space acquisitions around Benton County, taking into account not only recreational value but other factors such as viewsheds, buffer zones, trail connectors and habitat conservation.
Never one to seek the spotlight, Campbell was a humble leader who deflected credit for the group’s accomplishments and constantly encouraged others to take key roles in Greenbelt projects, which fostered a sense of shared purpose among the group’s members.
“Everyone who was ever involved in the organization … cited her quiet leadership and dedication,” McDonald said. “She was one of those people who could compile all these different pieces and put them together in this cohesive organization.”
Campbell’s inclusive approach, coupled with Ross’ inspirational vision, helped create an abiding commitment to the organization. Three decades after its creation, the Greenbelt Land Trust has a list of more than 150 people who have been donating to the group for more than 20 years.
“That’s a large amount for an organization like ours,” said Claire Fiegener, Greenbelt’s conservation director. “All those people were inspired by the founding board and Meg.”
'Dream big'
Campbell also took care to put Greenbelt on a solid professional footing. As president, she attended symposiums and workshops on land trust management and cultivated a strong relationship with the Land Trust Alliance, a national association of similar organizations.
And before she stepped down as president in 1996, she hired Greenbelt’s first full-time paid staffer, Karlene McCabe, as executive director. McCabe would lead the land trust until 2010, when she moved on and was replaced by the current director, Michael Pope.
According to Fiegener, it was one more sign of Campbell’s visionary leadership.
“Land trusts are unique in that we protect land in perpetuity,” she said. “It’s a big vision, but it’s also a long-term vision.”
Greenbelt has changed considerably from those early days. Today it has a paid staff of 10 people and owns or holds easements on more than 3,600 acres in a service area that includes Benton, Linn, Polk and Marion counties.
Campbell remained active in the organization almost to the end of her life, but she never tried to reassert her authority, McDonald said. Rather, she took satisfaction in the accomplishments of those who followed in her footsteps.
McDonald recalled a conversation she had with Campbell in 2015, when they talked about how Greenbelt had changed over the years. McDonald asked Campbell if she was surprised at how much the organization had grown from its humble beginnings in 1989.
“Without any hesitation,” McDonald recalled, “she said, ‘No, I’m not surprised one bit, because that was always the vision that led us: dream big, think big.’”
Reporter Bennett Hall can be reached at 541-758-9529 or bennett.hall@lee.net. Follow him on Twitter at @bennetthallgt.