A Tribute to Marty Illick, Leader in Water Quality Protection in Vermont
Vermont lost a champion for water quality on April 19, 2021. Marty Illick, Executive Director of the Lewis Creek Association, and her husband Terry Dinnan, died tragically in a boating accident on Lewis Creek, the very stream that Marty devoted much of her life to protect. A resident of Charlotte, Marty was active at the town, state, and regional levels and worked tirelessly with conservation groups, state regulators, property owners, schools, and more to promote the protection and restoration of Vermont’s waters and surrounding lands, through community science, education, advocacy, and project development and implementation.
Marty Illick is the reason I am at Lake Champlain Sea Grant (LCSG).
I left a career in social work in 2010 with the intention of donating my time and skills to the health and welfare of Lake Champlain. I did not have a degree in environmental science, but simply a life-long devotion to the lake, having been in and around its waters for 68 years.
Marty and I met in 2013 at a gathering of townspeople looking for ways to reduce stormwater runoff from their properties. I was immediately struck by Marty’s warmth, enthusiasm, generosity, and wealth of knowledge. Anything seemed possible with Marty.
From that point on, Marty took me under her wing as a volunteer—she had a very large wingspan. Together with several others, we founded Ahead of the Storm (AOTS), a tri-town community education program that demonstrated stormwater mitigation methods. Marty tutored me in grant writing, taught me some of the science, economics, sociology, and politics of water quality protection, and introduced me to multiple colleagues. We shared meals at her cozy home on the banks of Lewis Creek and at my family’s camp on Long Point at the mouth of Lewis Creek. We swapped stories of kids and careers and our deep concern about the degradation of our treasured streams and lake.
In a recent post honoring Marty, the Association of Vermont Conservation Commissions Board wrote: “Foundational to all of her efforts was connecting this work with people: landowners, policy-makers, students, and nature lovers alike.” AOTS was a perfect example. Marty engaged elementary school students in planning and designing stormwater solutions for their school grounds. She invited local property owners to use their land as demonstration sites. And she advocated for our projects in front of boards, councils, and committees.
AOTS embodied Marty’s priority of education. She said in a Vermont Natural Resources Council 2015 interview, “Water quality is an indicator of the health of river corridors and wildlife habitat. Helping landowners and towns to understand what natural systems are at play in their backyards and towns is increasingly important as we work to address the issues of the Lake Champlain basin.”
Those who knew Marty describe her as passionate, articulate, informed, dedicated, and forthright. I would add unstoppable, or at least, persistent. Whenever I participated in meetings with Marty, I learned from her laser focus and from her insistence on addressing issues and perspectives that were not simple or convenient.
Mike Kline, Vermont River Ecologist, expressed so eloquently, “For those of us who have had the privilege to climb mountains, we’ve learned about the mental, emotional, and physical fortitude it takes to move on from a false summit. Marty was that fellow hiker who pointed to the higher ridge, leaving little question as to our next steps.” Marty’s unwavering message was one of protecting and restoring our streams and lakes and the natural environments within which they flowed, with science-based information.
In 2015, AOTS was invited to participate in the Leahy Center Environmental Summit. Marty and I, along with the AOTS team, shared our project with a room full of 150 dedicated “doers and thinkers” collaborating on stormwater planning and best practices. It was at this summit that I shared a table with Breck Bowden, LCSG Director, and Becky Tharp, my LCSG predecessor. After engaging with Breck and Becky in various group activities, I knew that I wanted to pursue work within their program and apply all I had learned from Marty towards a newly created position as Land Use Planner and Water Quality Educator.
I continued to volunteer for Marty on AOTS projects until my new position grew in scope. As a LCSG staff member, I facilitated the award of a small AOTS grant to support further development of their project material and publicity. Through this grant, by meeting at various conferences, or simply by getting together for a cup of tea, Marty and I stayed connected. I know that I speak for many who knew her: whenever we got together, it was as if no time had passed. Marty was that kind of friend and colleague.
I will be forever grateful to Marty Illick. She is the foundation for all my work in water quality education. Whenever I engage with a community member, a state specialist, or a colleague in a watershed organization, I will remember that Marty is there in spirit, my mentor who taught me the fundamentals and modeled what is possible to protect the waters I love.
Staff members at Lake Champlain Sea Grant knew and respected Marty Illick and have been profoundly influenced by her work, tenacity, and triumphs for water quality in Vermont.
“Marty had a big, positive impact on a lot of people, as well as on Lewis Creek and Lake Champlain. We have lost a tremendous advocate for our community and a good friend. To honor her memory, I hope that we can rededicate our energies to the goals Marty sought." –Breck Bowden, LCSG Director
“I met Marty early on in my water quality work in Vermont. From the moment I met her I felt a wave of gratitude that Vermont had such passionate and capable advocates for water quality. Every meeting we had was marked by her thoughtful and powerful consideration of the topic at hand. Marty’s work for the watershed has been personally inspiring, and has impacted the approach I have taken to my work. I hope to carry forward Marty’s spirit and want her family to know the widespread legacy she has left.” –Juliana Dixon, LCSG Stormwater Outreach Assistant