Steve Swenson

Over the past 20 years, Steve’s career has advanced the ethical relationship between people and land through tangible conservation initiatives. As a director, he oversees the Education and Stewardship Programs of the foundation, which includes Aldo Leopold’s historic Shack, a National Historic Landmark and the surrounding Leopold-Pine Island Important Bird Area (IBA), a partnership of federal, state and private lands totaling over 12,000 acres.

Steve established bird community monitoring and evaluation to complete the adaptive management cycle and demonstrate accountability for real conservation outcomes. Steve’s work through the IBA has influenced management decisions on partnering lands, unprecedented mitigation measures for nearby powerline construction, and statewide strategic plans through the Wisconsin Bird Conservation Initiative.

Regionally, Steve coordinates a public-private partnership called My Wisconsin Woods. Through continuous improvement of outreach methods, My Wisconsin Woods inspires land care among previously unengaged landowners. For this project and others, Steve authored regionalized handbooks titled My Healthy Woods, written specifically for inexperienced landowners. These award-winning handbooks have reached over 40,000 landowners collectively owning 6 million acres in Arkansas, Minnesota, New Jersey, Iowa, and Wisconsin.

Steve holds a B.S. degree in Environmental Science from University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and a M.S. in Ecology from Ohio State University.