Freeport Town Councilor Chip Lawrence and Freeport 2021 Citizen of the Year Katrina Van Dusen. Contributed

When Katrina Van Dusen first moved to Freeport in 1985, she said she wasn’t sure about the town, at first.

It was the beginning of the shopping outlet boom, which for many today, remains a defining feature of the 8,700-person town. As a lover of open, natural spaces, Van Dusen thought Freeport might have “lost its soul.”

But first impressions didn’t last, and on March 1 — just about 37 years later — Van Dusen was named Freeport’s 2021 citizen of the year. The award, in part, came as recognition for Van Dusen’s decades-long work in local land conservation.

“It turned out, it was an awesome place to live,” Van Dusen said, adding, “even back then, and still, it has great open spaces to get out.”

Before retiring last summer, Van Dusen served 10 years as the Freeport Conservation Trust executive director.

Nearly 260 acres in town were acquired for public access and preservation during her tenure, and from when she first got involved as a board member around 1993, that acreage is in the range of 1,280. The recognition also came in light of the years Van Dusen served on town boards, as a poll worker and as a volunteer in the schools.

“It’s a sweet recognition that I did not expect but I appreciate, and sort of fun to think back to the variety of things I’ve done in town and all the different people that I’ve worked with,” Van Dusen said. “It’s also like a little motivation that I better keep at it.”

Through working on the comprehensive plan committee or coastal waters commission, Van Dusen said she’s found joy in being involved in the Freeport community and advocating for important issues.

“If you follow the news, you don’t feel that citizen involvement in local government in every place is always that positive from my perspective, but in Freeport it feels it’s still very positive,” Van Dusen said, adding “you can be effective, you can make a change, or you can articulate something that’s important and make sure it stays that way.”

Carrie Kinne, who assumed the role of executive director of Freeport Conservation Trust in June 2021, said Van Dusen “left a legacy” on the organization which maintains a total of 1,700 acres of Freeport land.

One example, Kinne said, is the Freeport Trail Challenge – a program created by Van Dusen that was launched in 2015. Each year, the organization selects four properties and, through a land trust passport, stamping station and prizes, encourages people to get out and visit natural areas.

“She’s incredible passionate about natural resources and nature, and connecting people,” Kinne said. “For her, it’s not enough to just protect the land, she’s really also passionate about people getting out on the land.”

According to Freeport Town Councilor Chip Lawrence, Van Dusen was nominated by fellow community members, and was selected due to her wide-ranging Freeport resume.

“She touched so many different facets of Freeport life,” Lawrence said. “She’s in the schools, she’s out in the community, she’s building trails – it wasn’t just one item.”

The Freeport Citizen of the Year award began in 1996. This year there were three nominations.