The Cape Elizabeth Land Trust has hired a new executive director with a background in environmental education and personal experience with the organization’s properties.

Cindy Krum, whose first day on the job was Tuesday, comes to the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust after serving as the part-time program manager for the South Portland Land Trust for the past year and a half.

She replaces Chris Franklin, the longtime director of the land trust, who stepped down from his post in early November.

Anne Carney, head of the land trust board, who also headed the search committee for Franklin’s replacement, said this week that the 30-year-old nonprofit was “delighted to find such an outstanding candidate, who could start before the end of the calendar year.”

Krum, 54, holds a master’s degree in environmental studies from Keene, N.H.-based Antioch University New England and a bachelor’s in human ecology from the College of the Atlantic in Bar Harbor. She has also served as the part-time executive director for the Gulf of Maine Association for the past 13 years.

Krum said it was in her time with the South Portland Land Trust that she discovered that she “really likes land trust work.”

That’s one of the reasons why the full-time post with the Cape Elizabeth Land Trust was so appealing. Another reason, Krum said, is she has a great appreciation for the properties the land trust has protected.

Those natural areas, totaling 660 acres, include Robinson Woods, where Krum enjoys mountain biking and snowshoeing. In addition to being an avid outdoorswoman, Krum is also a registered Maine Guide.

She lives in South Portland with her husband and child. Krum is originally from Delaware and said she came to Maine for college and never left.

She said land trusts are important because “it’s so critical to have access to natural areas where we live.”

Krum added, “One thing that’s really neat, is that land trusts these days are about far more than land conservation. They really work to connect people to the natural world.”

Another draw for Krum is the Cape land trust’s commitment to outreach and education. Every year the land trust offers a number of programs for both kids and adults.

“It’s really amazing what this small community land trust can do,” said Krum.

Her goals as the new director include continuing to “help conservation efforts happen” and “creating an even stronger volunteer network.”

Carney said what made Krum stand out is that “she already had a deep knowledge of and love for our lands.”

She also said that Krum provides the land trust with “a great depth of professional experience,” particularly with coastal conservation and protection through her work with the Gulf of Maine Association.

Carney said that Krum “brings so many great things, including a lot of contacts (in the conservation world) and a background in environmental education, which is such a big part of what we do here.”

She added that the education programs, for kids in particular, are “extremely important and beloved. We get to do a lot of fun things here.”

This is Carney’s second year leading the land trust board and her sixth year as a board member.

What drew her to volunteer with the nonprofit is that “the beauty of the natural lands we have preserved has enhanced the quality of life,” for residents of Cape.

In addition to the popular Robinson Woods trails, the properties protected by the Cape land trust includes the 7-acre Trundy Point, which provides outstanding views of Casco Bay, along with a pocket beach for swimming or picnicking.

The land trust has also conserved the 5-acre Great Pond, the town’s largest freshwater body, which includes a public boat launch for canoes and kayaks.

Other well-known and well-used conserved lands include the 177-acre Gull Crest property, the 150-acre Town Farm, the 86-acre Stonegate Trail system and the 7.5-mile Cross-Town Trail linking Fort Williams to Kettle Cove.

The Cape Elizabeth Land Trust was founded in 1985 by a small group of residents with the goal of preserving the town’s natural areas of scenic beauty for future generations and visitors to explore and appreciate, the group’s website states.

“As a community-based organization, (the land trust also) strives to maintain neighborhood trail access to protected lands and to provide new, and lasting protection of valued lands in Cape Elizabeth,” the website adds.

Krum said she wants residents and visitors to Cape to know that the land trust office, at 330 Ocean House Road, is “always open, so stop by and say, ‘hello.’ We welcome anyone interested in the land trust.”

The Cape Elizabeth Land Trust has hired Cindy Krum as its new executive director. Her first day on the job was Tuesday.