Robin and Al Ulmer in front of their Essex home.

From Colin Powers:

Stepping into the Executive Director position at BRASS a year and half ago, I had no idea what to expect. I tried to keep up with the steady stream of projects that were already in motion: trash clean-ups, volunteer tree plantings, public events, water quality testing, grants for habitat restoration and dam removals. Whenever I could, I studied the archives to learn what I could about this almost 40-year old organization.

I discovered that I had stepped into a very large pair of (muddy) boots! Robin Ulmer led BRASS in more amazing, exciting and impactful directions than it seems possible for a tiny nonprofit with a miniscule budget. From tree planting (270,000 trees!) with Moriah Shock workers, to soliciting peer reviewed scientific articles (thanks, Dennis Kalma), to bicycling, hiking and canoeing guides, to erosion maps, invasive species projects, canoe rambles, trashy art contests, trail and park plans and more, Robin’s accomplishments remain just staggering. When I’m a bit overwhelmed, I can try to lean on her example – reminding myself what is possible in this work. That is her gift to me. Speaking for our Board and for our membership, we celebrate and honor her legacy on the river and in our communities.

From Anita Deming, (BRASS President Emeritus)

Robin Ulmer was a force of nature. She gave and gave of herself to help others. I knew her for years as director of the Boquet River Association. She helped us create the constitution and bylaws setting out how the Association would function, and its goals. She was a strong advocate for the social and educational policies in our by-laws in addition to the environmental goals. She also felt strongly that BRASS would not cause financial hardships on our communities but instead searched for funding and in-kind donations to help projects move forward.

Robin had an artist’s talent to draw projects and explain the plans, so citizens wanted to participate. When we first started there was mistrust with concerns that the APA was trying to gain ownership of more private lands along the river.

She wrote and illustrated our newsletters for many years that helped create a unified vision of our motto: “The River Connects Us.”

Robin was out in the rain planting vegetation along the riverbanks, wheel barrowing rocks to hold corners and pounding stakes to prevent erosion from taking away our greenery.

Robin is missed.

From Schelling McKinley, (BRASS Treasurer emeritus)

A look in the old files which are in the attic of my garage shows the range of Robin’s work with Brass. It is filled with scientific studies, brochures of river projects, suggestions for river residents on how to care for the banks and vegetation, grant proposals and scores of other documents. All this was done under Robin’s tenure with no other staff and minimal board help. In my early days on the board, it seemed that Robin was BRASS and the board members were there mostly to assist her and give formal legitimacy to the organization.

I was briefly the board president after Robin retired from the director position. We went from a situation where Robin not only did most of the work of BRASS, but also provided the leadership by suggesting the priorities of the organization based on her extensive knowledge of the river and the communities through which it flowed. We did not fully realize how difficult it would be to find a replacement for her. Within a year we found out. Though I counselled patience a number of the board members were considering leaving the board in frustration. I recall meeting with Robin to ask her advice. Though she was reluctant to interfere with the new director and had been quiet after the transition, she was willing to listen to me. She said that I was right to call for patience, but the job required a special dedication which would not be easily found. An unsuitable candidate would not want to stay, and we would have to look for a new person, one who was both capable of doing the work but also willing to lead an organization with changing opportunities. It was then that I fully realized what a wonderful person Robin Ulmer was.

From Bob McGoldrick (BRASS Board Member)

Meeting Robin

My first encounter with Robin Ulmer was on a warm spring day in the early to mid nineties while I was fishing for salmon in the Willsboro pool in the Boquet River.

As I waded down the pool I noticed a lot of activity on the opposite bank of the river. There I spotted a crew of young men in green uniforms accompanied by a couple of older men in grey shirts and slacks.

In the midst of this group of burly men was a woman of much slighter stature, who was decidedly moving much more quickly and crisply than anyone else. I noticed she was directing them on digging multiple holes and planting seedlings along the steep river bank.

As it so happened l had recently caught a salmon. It was noon and there was a small campfire crackling at the top of the river bank. I began talking to her and offered the salmon to supplement their lunch time fare. She flashed a grin and graciously accepted my offer and then directed one of the young men to take the fish and bring it to one of the guards.

She informed me she was with BRASS and proceeded to fill me in on the planting project which I learned was in coordination with the DEC and the now defunct Moriah Shock Program. In addition she informed me of several other projects that she was spearheading with BRASS including water testing, monitoring and removing invasive species and promoting recreational activities in and along the river. Although I had heard of BRASS, this was the first time I realized the extent of its contribution to the Boquet watershed.

It wasn’t until many years later that I received an invitation to join the board of BRASS, an offer I readily accepted. And for the next few years I was able to witness and participate in the pioneering work that she had initiated.

Robin was always willing and ready to do the hard, hands on work of the organization, be it planting cover for the fish and the stream banks, yanking out invasive plants or walking the riverbanks of local farms. Her energy and enthusiasm was evident at board meetings and there were times when well-intentioned board members would try to pull her back from some of her more extreme endeavors, usually to no avail.

Her interest in protecting watersheds reached from the Boquet River to ponds and lakes in China to aquifers in South America. By the end of her tenure at BRASS, she was ready to embark on more far flung adventures spanning the globe.

Robin’s leadership and tireless enthusiasm for protecting, preserving and promoting the Boquet watershed was an inspiration to all who knew and worked with her.

And on any given bend of the Boquet River you may still witness the legacy she has left behind and continues to be carried on by like minded individuals who have seen its value.

From Spring Ulmer (Robin’s daughter)

It's beautiful and difficult to read about my mother. I am reminded that I know how hard she worked (including physically), how overlooked she often was, how dynamic and amazing her gifts, how utterly self-effacing, how stubborn and perfectionistic. She was never easily cowed. Sometimes her ethics boggled my mind. Mostly she taught by example, took risks, worked with those persons available on whatever project she got funded, and never assumed her way was the only way. She loved what she did and poured herself into the work, the newsletters, the water testing. She traveled to Macedonia and Japan to share her knowledge, she worked with prisoners and hand tools, and she knew everyone in the county (who might help her implement her projects). She was saddened that her own work wasn't safeguarded. In some ways, it broke her heart. She would have been overjoyed to know that you are appreciating her, taking lead, finding in the water she loved and the ecosystem she protected that same passion she once found.

BRASS would like to give great thanks to Larry King and Katharine Preston and John Bingham for their generous donations in Robin’s name. These funds will help BRASS continue Robin’s work in our watershed.

Remembering BRASS’ First Executive Director: Robin Ulmer

Closing out 2025