baseline biosPreparer Qualifications
Tom Annese has been the Land and Projects Planning Assistant for the City of Northampton Planning and Sustainability Department since 2018. In that role he has collaborated with community
groups and City staff on habitat restoration projects, invasive species control, trail maintenance and construction, baseline documentation reports, encroachment enforcement, and a variety
of other tasks on over 3,000 acres of public conservation land. He previously worked for Mass Audubon where he primarily identified and controlled invasive plant species and performed
trails and grounds maintenance. He has worked in a similar capacity on private and public land in Iowa, which also included tall grass prairie burning for habitat restoration purposes.
In San Francisco he worked for seven years for the City of San Francisco Natural Areas Program, where he was responsible for preserving, restoring, and enhancing biodiversity in oak
woodlands, coastal scrub, dunes, grasslands, and wetlands. He has also worked as an invasive species contractor for the National Park Service in the Bay Area and as field supervisor
for North East Trees, an oak woodland restoration and street tree planting non profit in Los Angeles. He holds a BA in English from Humboldt State Univeristy and has completed course
work in Biology, Zoology, and Plant Taxonomy.
Sarah LaValley has been the Conservation and Preservation Planner for the City of Northampton Office of Planning and Sustainability since 2010. She has been involved in the permanent
protection of thousands of acres of open space as part of implementing the City’s open space vision, with a focus on habitat management and improvement. As part of this effort, she
has worked with diverse land use partner groups on trail layout and construction, wetlands delineation, grant writing, invasive species management, and other open space challenges and
opportunities. She is responsible for Conservation Restriction drafting and implementation for new open space acquisitions, and has experience with baseline documentation reports.
Sarah holds Bachelor of Science degrees in Regional Planning and Environmental Science, as well as a Master’s in Public Administration from Westfield State University.