Audubon Honors Gregory Family Stewardship

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By Anne W. Semmes
Sentinel Features Reporter

W. Grant Gregory with wife Karen exhibiting a particularly fine brown trout of 12-pounds caught (and released) on the South Island of New Zealand.
W. Grant Gregory with wife Karen exhibiting a particularly fine brown trout of 12-pounds caught (and released) on the South Island of New Zealand.

W. Grant Gregory and his wife Karen have lived in Greenwich for nearly half a century – they came in 1968 – but the reach of their stewardship of the natural world is far and wide. Two of their three children, Morgan and wife Joy, and Grant Jr. and wife Kim live in Greenwich. Daughter Kristin lives in Washington, D.C. And you can definitely color them all green.

The Gregory’s – counting five grandchildren – are bird lovers and forest fans, who are enjoying the fruits of the land, while doing their best to protect it, as well as supporting those who care for it, and then educating others to follow suit.

“My father Warren Gregory was decades ahead of his time in protecting wildlife habitation,” said Grant Sr., “In 1950 he recognized the importance of creating year round habitat for animals and birds, to have sustainable wildlife.”

So, make this a four generation legacy that is to be honored on April 27 when the Gregory family will receive the Audubon Connecticut Environmental Leadership Award “for creating a legacy of wildlife conservation and habitat protection” at the annual event at the Belle Haven Club.

Gregory, without a doubt, had an agenda inherited from his dad. He’s had an impressive career in the business world –his latest evolution is as co-founder and chairman of the merchant bank, Gregory & Hoenemeyer, Inc., headquartered in Greenwich. But his stewardship began during his entrepreneuring college days at the University of Nebraska. “I started several companies – one of which leased ranches in the West to graze cattle in summer, he said. In 1998 he bought one of those ranches, the Quarter Circle G Ranch outside Buffalo, Wyoming, and next door to the million-plus acres Bighorn National Forest.

He took up ranching with his mother’s maxim in mind, “You can only harvest what you plant.”

Perhaps it was more than coincidental with a ranch located next to a National Forest that Gregory would be contacted by the White House to become involved in conservation in a big way. “President George Herbert Walker Bush and U.S. Senator “Pete” Domenici had a long time passion and desire to have a National Forest Foundation that would parallel the National Park Foundation,” he said. “They reached out to me and a group of us from Greenwich to create a Foundation.” So, Gregory, with Donald Kendall, Bob Model, Ralph Bailey, and Charlie Long, after “a mighty struggle,” established the National Forest Foundation in 1993.

Gregory’s stewardship was writ large putting his shoulder to the mission of the National Forest Foundation “to bring people together to restore and enhance our National Forests and Grasslands.” He’s quick to educate others that “Our National Forests encompass 10-11 percent of the land mass of the U.S. “We now have 193 million acres with 20 national grasslands – year round habitat. It’s a great North American model.”

He and his family are thus savvy to the important role of the U.S. Forest Service in fighting and managing forest fires in the National Forests. So, when the news came of that tragic “Storm King” fire near Glenwood Springs, Colorado that brought the death of 14 firefighters, with many of them having no life insurance, the Gregory’s took action.

“My wife Karen and I, son Morgan and friend Charlie Long created a fundraiser – The Sporting Clays Invitational,” said Gregory, “that raised five million dollars for those firemen’s families.” The Sporting Clays Invitational is now a popular annual event, coming up next on May 6-7.

Karen Gregory takes time out with Smokey Bear at a National Forest Foundation Clays Annual Sporting Fundraising event.
Karen Gregory takes time out with Smokey Bear at a National Forest Foundation Clays Annual Sporting Fundraising event.

Back on the Quarter Circle G Ranch son Morgan and daughter Kristin run a WYLD Leadership program for adults in different age groups, in honor of their father’s “love of the West and nature.” The five-day program is based on nature, said Gregory. “Part of the day is in a classroom, then they are outside physically engaged with nature in teams doing a task and having a leadership experience.” Such as, a team is tasked to set up a four-wall tent for an overnight getting up close and personal experience with nature.

Another Gregory family stewarding initiative would have especially pleased Grant Sr’s ornithology-minded elementary school teacher who turned the young Gregory onto birds. “My teacher, Mildred Hayes, was an ornithologist. If we got our homework done early, we’d spend two or three hours in the outdoors iding every bird species, their color, their nest, their song. We’d explore books to learn of their migratory habits and behavior.”

So, in the 2000’s the Gregory family built a 300-acre golf course in Bedford, N.Y., the GlenArbor Golf Club,” told Gregory. “As stewards of the land we decided to have a controlled study of its Bluebird population. Bluebirds are highly sensitive. We would collect data, the eggs laid, how many fledged, the mortality, and publish the records.”

Why not involve school kids in the Bluebird project was the next inspiration, to include fifth graders in a Bedford public school, “for a day of bird study.” “The kids were fascinated by the data they collected,” said Gregory. At last count Gregory reported 1,300 Bluebirds have fledged and taken off at GlenArbor.

The North American Bluebird Society has duly noticed and recognized The GlenArbor Gold Club Bluebird study project “for its unique/multi-year Bluebird research and educational programs.”

Gregory’s grandchildren’s love of birds has also taken flight. “They’re all passionate about birds” he said, and daughter-in-law Kim has a special focus on the world of Audubon Connecticut. And they’re all especially pleased to have a pair of those famous migrating Sand Hill cranes nesting on their ranch.

It’s plain to see what a legacy can be from a family like the Gregory’s.

“Families are often our first introduction to nature, perhaps through a parent or grandparent introducing us to forests or fields, or the birds and other wildlife that live there,” said

Audubon Connecticut Executive Director Stewart Hudson.

“We are celebrating the Gregory’s not only for exemplifying this tradition but also for helping Audubon pass that gift along to others,” said Hudson.

Also being honored at the April 27 Audubon Environmental Leadership Awards Benefit is Melissa Spear of Common Ground who will receive the Katie O’Brien Lifetime Achievement Award “for inspiring the next generation’s dedication to nature.” For tickets to the benefit call 212-379-4024 or email audubon@cwandco.com.

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