Honoring a Legacy of Stewardship: Lynn Werner Named 2026 Dr. Marc Taylor Environmental Stewardship Award Recipient

There are people who care about the environment.

 And then there are people who quietly shape how it is protected, year after year, decision after decision.

Lynn Werner has spent more than four decades doing exactly that.

The Pomperaug River Watershed Coalition is proud to name Lynn Werner as the 2026 recipient of the Dr. Marc Taylor Environmental Stewardship Award, recognizing a lifetime of leadership, collaboration, and meaningful impact on conservation across our region.

Lynn recently retired after 30 years with the Housatonic Valley Association, where she served as Executive Director and helped guide the organization through decades of growth, partnership-building, and environmental progress. Her leadership has influenced how communities, nonprofits, and stakeholders work together to protect land, water, and the long-term health of our ecosystems.

What sets Lynn apart is not just what she has accomplished, but how she has done it.

She has been a consistent force in bringing diverse voices to the table, aligning priorities, and turning complex environmental challenges into coordinated action. Her work reflects deep technical knowledge paired with a practical understanding of what it takes to move initiatives forward, across towns, organizations, and competing interests.

Over the years, she has played a key role in advancing conservation efforts that required patience, persistence, and trust, the kind of work that rarely makes headlines but creates lasting results. She is widely respected as a collaborator, a strategist, and a steady hand in the environmental community.

These are the qualities the Dr. Marc Taylor Environmental Stewardship Award was created to recognize.

Named in honor of PRWC’s founder Dr. Marc Taylor, the award celebrates individuals whose work reflects a deep commitment to protecting natural resources while strengthening the network of people and organizations needed to do that work well.

Lynn embodies that balance.

Her impact is not defined by a single project or moment, but by decades of steady, thoughtful leadership that has helped shape conservation efforts across the region. Because of her, partnerships are stronger, initiatives are more effective, and the work continues with greater clarity and purpose.

Lynn will be honored at A Toast to the Watershed on May 16, 2026, at Winvian Farm in Morris Connecticut.

It is a moment to recognize a leader whose influence runs deep, and whose work will continue to shape the future of environmental stewardship for years to come.