The Conservation Trust for Florida, Inc. is a non-profit land trust that was founded in 1999 by a group of professional conservationists to address the need to protect rural land and natural areas in Florida. David Carr, formerly the Executive Director of the Caribbean Conservation Corporation, was the founding Executive Director and is a member of the Board of Directors. Dr. Gary Meffe, Editor-in-Chief of the international scientific journal Conservation Biology, served as the founding Facilitator and as Executive Director from 2002 until 2003. Busy Shires Byerly, the current Executive Director, has worked on projects with leading conservation organizations such as The Wildlands Project, Defenders of Wildlife, and the National Gap Analysis Program.

The Board of Directors of the Conservation Trust for Florida is an entirely volunteer group of individuals committed to the mission of protecting working rural landscapes.

With talents ranging from ecological and forestry sciences to conservation biology, accounting, environmental education, law, and public planning, these individuals serve to guide and advance the many projects and education programs that CTF pursues.

The Board...

Michael Campbell: President of the Board , Professional forester and co-owner of a wholesale propagation nursery in Micanopy, Florida. He received both Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in Forestry at the University of Florida. Mike has been employed with timber industry, local government, and private consulting firms prior to starting the nursery.

Stephen A. Nesbitt: Vice President of the Board,Sandhill crane expert. Ornithologist and retired Biological Administrator for the Florida Wildlife Commission, and member of the Whooping Crane Recovery Team.

Kathleen S. Williams: Treasurer of the Board, A native Floridian, Kathleen conducted her Master’s Degree research at the University of Florida on wildlife corridors. She has researched sandhill cranes, gopher tortoises, and fox squirrels in Florida and sea turtles in Australia. As an administrator for the Wildlife Conservation Society, she has overseen conservation projects in Central America. Kathleen is also a writer, photographer, and videographer..

K. Marlene Conaway: Secretary of the Board, Marlene served as the Chief of Comprehensive Planning for the Department of Community Affairs, Florida State Government from 2005 to 2006. She served as the Deputy Director, Department of Planning and Development for Carroll County, Maryland and as a program administrator for a Maryland county, she worked with farmers to help them understand the benefits of selling agricultural land preservation easements to the State. A major accomplishment was designing the “Critical Farms” program to prevent agricultural lands from being converted to development when a farmer retires. Easement funding is provided by the County, as bridge financing, to help individuals who want to farm purchase the land. The program has preserved fifty farms in the last twenty years and received a national award in 2005.

David Carr: Past President, Founder of the Conservation Trust for Florida, Inc. (CTF). Former Executive Director of the Caribbean Conservation Corporation, noted conservationist, owner of the Pearl Country Store, landowner, and native Floridian. David is also a member of Scenic Highway 441 Corridor Management Council.

David Pais: Member at Large.David was educated at Rollins College and University of Florida, where he studied environmental ethics. He is active in the Florida Native Plant Society and was a founding member and president of the Gainesville Chapter and Past President of the State FNPS 1996-98. He is certified as an Arborist, a Landscape Designer, and Landscape Contractor and operates a design and consulting business that specializes in Ecological Restoration, Native Landscapes, and Habitat Enhancements throughout Florida & the Caribbean. He is also a Licensed Real Estate Broker specializing in preserving & protecting the Native Landscape of Florida.

Nancy J. Peterson: Member at Large, Executive Director Conserved Forest Ecosystems Outreach & Research School of Forest Resources and Conservation. Nancy’s background is in natural resource management and environmental education. She has a long history of working with not-for profit organizations, serving for 10 years as the executive director and two years as environmental education coordinator for Green Earth, Inc., a land trust organization located in Carbondale, Illinois. In addition, she was the first director of The Science Center, a regional hands-on children’s museum also located in Illinois. She and her sister have managed their family farm in Illinois for over 30 years.

Bill Schlitzkus: Member at Large, Bill is a longtime resident of Cross Creek having moved there after graduation from Georgia to take a forestry job with Owens-Illinois Paper Company in 1965. He has been with them through numerous permutations to the current landholder, Plum Creek Corporation. He is familiar with Conservation Easements from the other side as he worked closely with the St. Johns River Water Management District (SJRWMD) on their purchase of the Conservation Easement and fee simple portions of the Lochloosa tracts. He also worked with Gainesville Regional Utilities, SJRWMD, and Suwannee River Water Management District on the Conservation Easement for Gainesville's Murphree Well Field.

Hans G. Tanzler, III: Member at Large, Mr. Tanzler is an attorney with a legal master’s degree in taxation. He is also a CPA, financial executive and valuation analyst with broad based experience over the last ten years in various industries including manufacturing, real estate, and computer technology. He is currently managing Cypress Grove Farm, a container nursery of Florida native trees and scrubs located in Waldo, Florida www.cypressgrovefarm.com. He formerly practiced fifteen years as an attorney/CPA tax attorney in Jacksonville and five years with the IRS and Department of Justice in Miami. He is a current member of the Governing Board of the St. Johns River Water Management District, the University of Florida Foundation Board of Governors, and former Chairman of the Jacksonville Zoological Society.

Barry Rutenberg: Member at Large, 2009 Third Vice Chairman of the Board of the National Association of Home Builders and President of Barry Rutenberg and Associates, Inc. In 2007, Barry joined his father, Arthur Rutenberg as an inductee in the Florida Housing Hall of Fame. He also serves on the Board of the Gainesville Area Chamber of Commerce and on the Issues Advisory Board of Florida Defenders of the Environment.