2023 IHEA-USA Annual Conference

Conference Keynote Speaker:
Buddy Huffaker, President & Executive Director, Aldo Leopold Foundation, Baraboo, Wisconsin

As executive director of the Leopold Foundation, my work may involve anything from giving a talk, to fundraising, to reviewing financial statements – sometimes all in the same day. Having joined the organization as an intern 20 years ago, I can honestly say I’ve done just about everything around here. At one point I was a pretty decent field botanist, could run a chainsaw, and even acted as a line boss on prescribed burns.

My academic background is landscape architecture and plant ecology, but I’ve also completed a lot of professional development coursework on fundraising, management, and finance. I’ve been recognized as an Executive Scholar in Not‐for‐Profit Management by Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. I also participated in the White House Conference on Cooperative Conservation, and was elected to represent the Northeast Region at the U.S. Forest Service’s Centennial Congress. My contributions to books include 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.

While my responsibilities have lately taken me away from the field, it has been very rewarding to see the Leopold Foundation’s programming and reach expand so much, and to know that we’re truly helping now to advance a conservation ethic across the country and beyond.

One of the most thrilling parts of my job is interacting with individuals and communities all over the country who are working not only to fully understand Leopold’s vision of a land ethic, but more importantly, implement it in their day-to-day lives.