Traci Deen to lead Alliance of Florida Land Trusts
Conservation Florida CEO takes on new leadership role to help save more land in Florida.
ORLANDO, Florida (April 16, 2021) — Conservation Florida’s CEO Traci Deen was elected president of the Alliance of Florida Land Trusts at their annual meeting held in April. She promises to bring to the group a spirit of collaboration and respect along with her background in advocacy, environmental law, and land conservation.
Finding strength in numbers, the Alliance of Florida Land Trusts is a network of over 22 land trusts working to protect Florida’s environmentally sensitive lands, natural areas, and public health. The alliance was formed to improve communication between land protection groups and be a unified voice advocating for conservation funding at the state level.
The Alliance of Florida Land Trusts also aims to share news updates among Florida’s conservation community, facilitate coalition building to address land conservation issues, and train volunteers to effectively advocate for land conservation measures.
The position of president was previously held by Tom Kay, executive director of the Alachua Conservation Trust. Other executive officers include, Christine Johnson as vice president, Kevin McGorty as treasurer, and Shane Wellendorf as secretary. Joining them as member at large is Rebecca Perry. Johnson is president of the Conservation Foundation for the Gulf Coast. McGorty and Wellendorf both hold leadership positions at Tall Timbers Land Conservancy as the director and conservation coordinator respectively. Perry serves as the director of real estate and community conservation of the North Florida Land Trust.
Deen became CEO of Conservation Florida in 2017. Under her leadership, Conservation Florida has forged new partnerships, launched new landscape-scale land conservation initiatives, and protected over 8,400 acres of natural and agricultural land.
In her role as president of the Alliance of Florida Land Trusts, Deen will apply her energy, strategic thinking, and resourcefulness to help the group achieve its shared goals of improving communications among state conservation practitioners, advocating for meaningful conservation funding, and sustainable land protection solutions.
“What an honor to work with the dedicated, passionate members of the Alliance of Florida Land Trusts,” said Deen. “This is an exciting and critical moment for land conservation in Florida, and together, we are capable of achieving powerful results for our natural environment.”
About Conservation Florida
Conservation Florida is a statewide accredited land trust with a mission to save Florida’s natural and agricultural landscapes for future generations. Our conservation projects support Florida’s native plants and wildlife, fresh water, conservation corridors, family farms and ranches, the economy and nature-based recreation. Since our founding in 1999, Conservation Florida has led the way in strategic and evidence-based land protection and has saved over 30,000 acres of critical habitat through acquisition, facilitation and incubation of conservation projects.
We save land by developing conservation strategies, exploring funding sources and purchasing or accepting donations of land and conservation easements. Our other services include providing expertise to guide landowners through the land protection process, serving as a trusted community partner to support statewide land conservation and promoting land conservation through effective education and advocacy. Our vision is large-scale, and we are 100% committed to conservation in the state of Florida – for nature, for people, forever!