What is a Land Trust?
A land trust is a nonprofit organization that, as all or part of its mission, actively works to conserve land by undertaking or assisting in land or conservation easement acquisition, by its stewardship of such land or easements, or by encouraging or assisting with good land use practices.
Diana Sheridan chosen as next Executive Director
How to Protect Your Land
A Conservation Easement (C.E.) is an agreement in which a property owner limits development and restricts other activities on their land in order to protect its natural resources (forests, wetlands, streams, scenery, etc.).
Conservation Pro Diana Sheridan chosen as next Executive Director of Ozark Land Trust
Diana Sheridan, pictured in the Woods Prairie Preserve, which Ozark Land Trust protects. Photo credit: Jeffrey Sweet Photography)
The nationally accredited Ozark Land Trust (ozarklandtrust.org) is pleased to announce that Diana Sheridan will be its next Executive Director, succeeding Larry Levin. Levin, who has been in the position since 2019, will continue to provide assistance to the Board and Sheridan.
A search committee of the OLT Board, led by new President Debbie Gittinger, reviewed dozens of resumes and conducted numerous interviews over the last several months. “We had many impressive candidates apply for the position. We are thrilled to have a professional of Diana’s experience and character to succeed Larry in the role” said Gittinger. “We have planned for this transition for over a year. We have been able to incorporate a number of continuity measures to ensure that OLT’s conservation work and operations continue in a seamless manner.” Sheridan comes to OLT from the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, where she has performed several key roles during her extensive career.
Most recently, she has served as the Supervisory Natural Resource Specialist at the NRCS National Water Management Center in Little Rock, AR, leading a national team alongside states to support watershed plan development. She has also served as a District Conservationist and Soil Conservationist in southwest MO providing conservation assistance to landowners. Before her work at NRCS, she served as the Executive Director of the James River Basin Partnership in Springfield.
“I am so happy to be joining the highly professional OLT team in their protection and restoration of land and water resources across the Ozark region,” said Sheridan. “I know that OLT already counts NRCS as one of its important partners, and I was fortunate to work with many agency and nonprofit partners during my tenure with NRCS. I’m also looking forward to working with the landowners of the Ozarks again and returning to my professional roots in the nonprofit world.”
Ozark Land Trust protects over 32,000 acres through land ownership, conservation easements and partners with landowners to help with important conservation practices. The Board of Directors of OLT comprises 18 members across Missouri and Arkansas. The eight-member staffis located throughout the Missouri portion of the Ozark region, in the Springfield, Fulton and St. Louis areas.
OLT is a member of the Land Trust Alliance and the Missouri Land Trust Coalition. OLT can be found on both Facebook and Instagram.
About Ozark Land Trust
The Ozark Land Trust is part of a rapidly expanding land conservation movement throughout the United States that now includes more than 1,700 land trusts. OLT has dozens of projects protecting more than 28,000 acres of land throughout the Ozark region.