The moments that define excellence
The moments that define excellence
Recipients of the 2025 Lieutenant Governor’s Award, Jane and Eric Hadley’s legacy is measured in the quiet, powerful experiences that have helped shape conservation in New Brunswick.
WRITTEN BY JON MACNEILL, COMMUNICATIONS AND ENGAGEMENT MANAGER
When we talk of excellence, there is a tendency to think in terms of grand, overarching achievements, bold headlines, and ground-shaking accomplishments.
This year’s recipients of the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Excellence in Land Conservation could certainly be described in that way. But Jane and Eric Hadley’s greatness is perhaps best captured in short, powerful moments:
The determination and power of a 60-something-year-old woman bicycling up steep island hills before a long field day. The commitment of her partner already at work on the trail nearby, chainsaw in hand, despite having had open heart surgery not long ago.
A northern flying squirrel descending from a classroom ceiling to the delight of students below, one lucky show-and-teller's offering courtesy of their parents’ taxidermy skills and keenness to share with their children a fascination with nature.
The enduring gift of a veteran naturalist pulling aside a sunburned 20-something to reveal the aloe vera-like qualities of jewelweed (Impatiens capensis), bringing great relief to many a blistered and bug-bitten member of the next generation of conservationists.
These are just some of the stories shared by friends and colleagues of Jane and Eric Hadley, lifelong naturalists, educators and conservation leaders whose quiet dedication earned them the 2025 Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Excellence in Land Conservation.
The Hadleys were presented the award by Lieutenant Governor Louise Imbeault during a ceremony at Government House on Earth Day (April 22, 2026).
Both in their mid-seventies, Eric, a forester, and Jane, a biologist, built lives and careers rooted in a deep respect for the natural world and a commitment to sharing that passion with others. Through professional work, volunteerism, and personal stewardship, they have inspired generations to better understand, appreciate, and protect the province’s landscapes.
In Eric’s case, that connection was something you could hike, kilometre by kilometre, along some of New Brunswick’s most iconic trails.
Through the early ‘90s into the ‘00s, while working for the Department of Natural Resources, he led major upgrades to the Sentier New Brunswick Trail network. Eric was responsible for converting abandoned railway lines, connecting existing routes, and creating new multi-use trails along the Fundy coast.
In particular, he located, marked and supervised the construction of both the Fundy Trail Parkway multi-use trail and an extension of the Fundy Footpath between St. Martins and Fundy National Park.
Often, Jane and their two sons, Matthew and Adam, would accompany Eric on these trail building adventures, camping out as they opened new ways for people to experience the old-growth Wabanaki-Acadian Forest along the rugged Fundy coast.
“The Eric and Jane dynamic duo built an incredible legacy now enjoyed by thousands of tourists and local adventurers annually,” noted Bethany Pohl, who worked closely with the Hadleys while stewardship manager at the Nature Trust.
That’s because, upon retiring in 2006, Eric joined the Nature Trust’s board of directors and quickly lent his trail-blazing expertise to lead trail design and bridge building at Seymour Woodlands Nature Preserve, Navy Island Nature Preserve, Noremac Nature Preserve, Connors Bros. Nature Preserve at Pea Point, and Keiko & Errol Nature Preserve at Ross Island.
Jane spent the summers of her high school years volunteering for the late Dr. Katherine M. Connell, climbing over banks and wading into bogs to collect, and eventually press, the rare and ephemeral wildflowers of Carleton County’s Appalachian Hardwood Forest. You can see Dr. Connell’s collection today, including plants that Jane collected and documented, on display at UNB’s Connell Memorial Herbarium.
During 15 years with the non-profit Canadian Forestry Association of NB, Jane led the award-winning Project Learning Tree, an environmental education program that helped teachers and educators foster a love of the province’s natural heritage in their students.
More than 1,800 teachers, from preschool to Grade 12, participated in the bilingual program, which also provided teachers with a manual of lesson plans to engage students in conservation.
In 1990, Jane received the Award of Merit from the Canadian Forestry Association of NB for her work and leadership at the organization, which also included the ‘Woodsy Owl’ anti-litter campaign and ‘Beaver Pond Walks’ at UNB.
“They lead quietly and leave a lasting impact without ever asking for recognition,” said Jane Tarn, who worked with Jane Hadley on Project Learning Tree and also received the Award of Merit. The pair co-led many nature walks with kids, earning the nickname ‘The Janes.’
The Hadleys, who built their own cordwood home using materials from their sustainably managed woodlot, were quiet, yes, but that doesn’t mean they weren’t tenacious.
The trails that later hosted those beaver pond walks at UNB were designed, built and maintained by the couple in the ‘80s. It was a labour of love undertaken during their spare time on weekends and, again, often involving their young sons, who both went on to enjoy careers in the environmental sector.
“When one trail was ruined by a highway being built through the area, they quickly developed another,” recalled Tarn. “When that one was no longer available, they laid out and built a third trail around yet a different beaver pond.
“They did not give up.”
And they don’t slow down.
Over the years, they’ve taken countless youth on canoe adventures, cross-county ski days, hiking trips, and bike adventures through groups like Scouts and Girl Guides. Both longtime members of the Wostawea Cross Country Ski Club, Jane often serves as a ski instructor and Eric a trail designer and builder.
Jane Hadley and her brother, Robert Speer, on their family’s protected land, now known as the Speer Hillside Nature Preserve
They have participated or led truly innumerable field and training days through the Nature Trust, mentoring generations of staff and volunteers on plant, wildlife and bird identification, helping to remove derelict cabins on new nature preserves, and hauling away marine debris at nearly every Great Fundy Coastal Cleanup and beach cleanup event going back to the ‘90s.
In 2019, Jane and her brother, Robert Speer, donated their family’s land to the Nature Trust, forever protecting the 26.8-hectare (66.2-acre) Speer Hillside Nature Preserve, which features endangered Appalachian Hardwood Forest, species at risk habitat, and rare plants such as cut-leaf toothwort (Cardamine concatenate), wood grey sedge (Carix grisea), and American lopseed (Phryma leptostachya).
But those are the headlines. The grand achievements.
It’s the moments—showing a volunteer something new every outing; hearing the powerful burst of a whale spout off the coast of a remote island at night; teaching others to ‘breathe from the top of the pine trees.’
That’s where the excellence of Jane and Eric Hadley lives.