Board of Directors

Click here for the directors' full biographies.

Tom Boldt (chair)
Appleton, WI

Gene Likens (vice chair)
Millbrook, NY

Buddy Huffaker (president)
Baraboo, WI

Anthony Anella (secretary)
Albuquerque, NM

Jerry Smith (treasurer)
Merrimac, WI

Susan Flader
Columbia, MO

Estella B. Leopold
Seattle, WA

Robert Morrison
Boscobel, WI

Leverett Nelson
Chicago, IL

George Nolte
Grass Valley, CA

Trish Stevenson
Black Earth, WI

John Wright
Denver, Colorado

Legal Counsel
Anne E. Ross
Foley & Lardner

Advisors

Don Brown
President, Albion Wealth Management

Kathe Conn

Executive Director, Aldo Leopold Nature Center

Peter Dunwidde
Director of Research Programs, The Nature Conservancy

Stan Temple
Professor Emeritus, Wildlife Ecology
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Director Biographies

Anthony Anella was born and raised in Albuquerque. He spent his early summers working on farms and ranches in New Mexico. He is the principal of Anthony Anella Architect AIA, an award-winning architecture and planning practice, and recently started Tony Anella Design LLC, a furniture design business inspired by the ethic of using minimal resources and sensible materials in the service of a beauty distinguished by a more graceful interaction with the earth. He is co-author, with John B. Wright of SAVING THE RANCH: Conservation Easement Design in the American West, Island Press (2004). He is also co-author, with Mark C. Childs, of NEVER SAY GOODBYE: The Albuquerque Rephotographic Survey Project, The Albuquerque Museum (2000). He has a Bachelor of Arts in History from Dartmouth College and a Master of Architecture from the University of Colorado. He also serves as board secretary of the New Mexico Land Conservancy, one of the largest land trusts in New Mexico, which has helped to protect over 85,000 acres from development.

Tom Boldt is chief executive officer of The Boldt Company, a national construction services firm founded in 1889. Headquartered in Appleton, Wisconsin, the Boldt organization is a leader in sustainable, green building processes and practices as well as renewable energy production. Boldt earned his B.A. from St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minnesota.

Dr. Susan Flader is professor emerita at the University of Missouri-Columbia where she taught courses in U.S. Western and environmental history, world environmental history, and the history of Missouri. She has written extensively about Aldo Leopold. In addition to numerous articles she has authored or edited six books, among them Thinking Like a Mountain: Aldo Leopold and the Evolution of an Ecological Attitude Towards Deer, Wolves, and Forests (1974; 1994), The Great Lakes Forest: An Environmental and Social History (1983); The River of the Mother of God and Other Essays by Aldo Leopold with J.B. Callicott (1991); and Exploring Missouri's Legacy: State Parks and Historic Sites (1992). She is past president of the American Society for Environmental History and serves on many other professional and environmental boards and committees.

Wellington "Buddy" Huffaker, IV, joined the Aldo Leopold Foundation over fifteen years ago. As the President and Executive Director, his work ranges from giving talks to fundraising to reviewing financial statements, sometimes all in the same day. Buddy began his work with the organization as an intern in 1996. His academic background is in landscape architecture and plant ecology but more recently his professional development has focused on management and finance. He headed the $7.5 million campaign to construct and endow the Aldo Leopold Legacy Center and, most recently, served as Executive Producer for Green Fire, a documentary film about Aldo Leopold’s life and legacy. Buddy has also been recognized as an Executive Scholar in Not‐for‐Profit Management by Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management, has participated in the White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation, and was elected to represent the Northeast Region at the US Forest Service’s Centennial Congress. He has contributed to two books, a foreword with Nina Leopold Bradley in Aldo Leopold and the Ecological Conscience, and a chapter in The Farm as a Natural Habitat on assisting private landowners interested in implementing Leopold's 'Land Ethic.' He serves as a leading voice for the role of ethics in the relationships between humans and nature and has addressed audiences across North America on why and how society must develop an ecological conscience.

Dr. Estella Leopold, youngest daughter of Aldo Leopold, is Emeritus Professor of Botany and past director of the Quaternary Research Center at the University of Washington. Dr. Leopold was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society. Her research interests and publications focus on paleobotany, forest history, restoration ecology, and environmental quality. She studies fossil pollen and spores of the Cenozoic interval with an interest in plant biogeography. Currently she chairs a nonprofit group, Farming and the Environment in Washington state. Most recently, Dr. Leopold was awarded the prestigious Cosmos Prize for her life work in conservation.

Dr. Gene E. Likens, Distinguished Senior Scientist, Ecologist, Founding Director and President Emeritus of the Institute of Ecosystem Studies* (institutional name change in 2007 to Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies), Ph.D., 1962, University of Wisconsin, Madison. Dr. Likens' research focuses on the ecology and biogeochemistry of forest and aquatic ecosystems, primarily through long-term studies at the Hubbard Brook Experimental Forest, in the White Mountains of New Hampshire. He was the co-founder of the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study in 1963, which has shed light on critical links between ecosystem function and land-use practices. He and his colleagues were the first scientists to discover acid rain in North America and to document the link between the combustion of fossil fuels and an increase in the acidity of precipitation in North America. His findings have influenced politicians and policy makers, guided and motivated scientific studies, and increased public awareness of human-accelerated environmental change. On 29 April 2006, Dr. Likens was elected to be a member of the American Philosophical Society, having previously been elected to the National Academy of Sciences (1981) and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (1979). On 11 June 2003, the Asahi Glass Foundation announced that Dr. Likens was a co-recipient of the 2003 Blue Planet Prize for outstanding scientific research that helps to solve global environmental problems. Dr. Likens was awarded the distinction along with Dr. F. H. Bormann, his long-term collaborator in the Hubbard Brook Ecosystem Study in New Hampshire. The Asahi Glass Foundation aspires for the Blue Planet Prize to be recognized as the environmental equivalent of the Nobel Prize. In 2002 he was awarded the 2001 National Medal of Science, the nation's highest science honor, for his contributions to the field of ecology.

Robert Morrison is the chairman of Community First Bank, based in Boscobol, Wisconsin. He began his career with Continental Bank in Chicago, including six years of management in Europe, and has been involved with financial services in Southwest Wisconsin through Community First Bank for the last twenty years. Bob has also been involved with the Chicago Economic Development Corporation, Conill Bank in Vienna, and Urban Gateways in Chicago. His interests include aviation, travel, skiing, and biking.

Leverett (Rett) Nelson currently teaches environmental law at Loyola University in Chicago, and is a past Adjunct Professor of Environmental Law at the DePaul University College of Law. He is a member of the Bar in both Colorado and Illinois, having obtained his law degree from the University of Colorado. He is also a supervising attorney with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Regional Counsel, Region 5 in Chicago. His office represents EPA in numerous civil and criminal enforcement matters under the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, Superfund, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and other legal authorities. Rett credits his step-father Luna Leopold (Aldo's second son) with his deep interest in environmental issues.

George S. Nolte, Jr. is president & CEO of Nolte and Associates, Inc., a 450-person full-service engineering firm that provides engineering, planning, surveying, and program management services. Nolte Associates is headquartered in Sacramento, California and has 13 offices within California, Colorado, Utah, and Mexico. George first began working for (at the time) George S. Nolte Consulting Civil Engineer and Land Surveyor in the mid-fifties for summer employment as a blue print operator supporting the office design staff. After completing his Bachelors of Science degree in Civil Engineering, he continued working as a field surveyor and eventually in the office in a design and planning capacity. His current role and responsibility as president of Nolte and Associates is a position he has held since 1982 when the firm had less than 100 employees. Mr. Nolte’s professional affiliations and public service participation include the World Presidents Organization, Chief Executive Organization, Water Education Foundation, and the Urban Land Institute. He has served on the ULI board since 1970 at held the following position: Chair Development Infrastructure and Services Council; Assistant Chair Environmental Task Force; Chair Sacramento Region District Council. As an avid outdoorsman Mr. Nolte has served on the Delta Waterfowl Foundation board since 1997 and enjoys hiking, kayaking, fly fishing, and skiing.

Jerry Smith is Chairman and Founder of First Business Financial Services, Inc. Founded in 1990, First Business Financial Services has assets in excess of $1.1 billion as of December 31, 2009. First Business Financial Services has subsidiary companies specializing in business banking, equipment finance, asset-based commercial finance, trust and investment services. He serves on numerous boards of directors and committees including SECURA Insurance and CTI Paper Company.

Trish Stevenson knew when she was 12 years old that she wanted to be a metalsmith. As a child, her nearest neighbor was a classically trained English metalsmith, and from her, Stevenson learned the true value of craftsmanship. Today, her jewelry designs subtly and almost unconsciously evoke, but do not overstate, botanical and geologic forms. Stevenson considers herself a collector of techniques and has acquired mastery of many of them: raising, forging, stone setting, and construction. Her work is defined by the evocative nature of her designs and an abiding insistence on impeccable craftsmanship.

John Wright worked professionally in the area of water conservation and efficiency via a national web based information exchange program. In addition, he has been actively involved with numerous conservation issues and environmental organizations within Colorado for more years than he cares to admit. John has been involved with ALF for many years prior to his appointment to the Board.