Rob Hartz

Rob has been an active member of SPA leadership beginning as a founding member and serving as SPA’s first president. Beginning in 1999, he helped lead the effort to protect the pond and aquifer when a local railroad presented a plan for auto unloading on an environmentally sensitive parcel of land in Ayer. SPA leadership was deeply involved in creating alliances, forging relationships with environmental experts, agency heads, town boards, and state and federal office holders. Although the facility was eventually built, our coalition with help from Littleton and Ayer Water Departments were able to ensure a high-quality stormwater collection system. In 2018 Ayer’s Water Department head, Dan Nason, confirmed that our collective efforts paid off, “had we not acted when we did, we would be saddled with a sub-par stormwater system, and we would be fighting pollution today.” Rob and his wife Shelley recently completed a 350-mile canoe trip on the Yukon River. He continues to be involved in several website related activities including research, writing, and photography. He has been a SPA member since 1998.