Tony Barrett

November 2021

Fifty-one years ago, Tony Barrett participated in a weekend spring clean-up on the Appalachian Trail (A.T.) in New Hampshire as a Boy Scout. However, it was not until 1999 that Barrett would again step foot on the Trail as he began and ultimately completed his thru-hike of the A.T. Coincidentally, the winter after his thru-hike Barrett and his spouse, Marguerite, decided to settle down in Harpswell, Maine.  

Barrett immediately sought out the Maine Appalachian Trail Club (MATC) and became a member of the club with the aspiration of becoming a section maintainer for the Trail.

“Walking the Trail gives you a different perspective. I was very appreciative of the Trail as a resource and I wanted to give back to other hikers,” explains Barrett.

After working alongside and apprenticing under a fellow section maintainer for a year Barrett became a section maintainer himself, a responsibility he looks forward to continuing and passing off someday in a similar manner.  

Originally from Framingham, Massachusetts, Barrett graduated from the University of Chicago with a degree in geophysical sciences and earned an MBA in Finance/International Business. He spent his career working in various leadership roles across the world for Amoco before settling in Maine. Since then, Barrett has been supporting a variety of causes related to the Appalachian Trail, especially through his work of protecting the land surrounding the Trail. 

During his time as an original member of the ATC’s Stewardship Council, Barrett served as Chair for a subcommittee of the Council that passed ATC policies regarding wind power facilities and climate change. Barrett is also a founding member of the Maine A.T. Land Trust, which focuses on protecting lands surrounding the Trail. For the past seven years, Barrett has been serving on the MATC’s Executive Committee as Chair of their Landscape Protection Committee examining developments that may be taking place near the Trail. In 2017, Barrett also served as co-chair on a three-year planning team to host the 2017 ATC Biennial in Maine.