The Trust Welcomes a New Board Chair

October 2, 2020 – The Wilderness Land Trust is pleased to announce Denise Schlener as the new chair of our board of directors. Denise has served on our board since 2013, sharing her extensive experience in building sustainable and effective organizations.

Denise’s career in conservation began with the Wilderness Society where she worked toward the passage of the Alaska National Interest Lands Act. This successful effort led to important roles leading the Connecticut chapter of the Nature Conservancy, director of National Services for the Land Trust Alliance and many more.

However, Denise says her passion for wild lands started much earlier than this:

“My passion for wilderness conservation started very young with camping trips to the Adirondacks and national parks with my aunt and uncle,” says Denise. “That was the beginning of my backcountry explorations in our nation’s wilderness areas and wildlands from Alaska to Vermont and many places in between.”

Denise resides in Washington DC where she currently serves as the chief operating officer of Polaris, a nonprofit dedicated to ending human trafficking. In addition to the Trust, she is on the board of the Tregaron Conservancy, an urban land trust in the heart of DC.

We extend a heartfelt thank you to Karen Fisher for successfully leading the Trust as board chair during the past three and a half years, and are thrilled that Karen remains on our board as vice chair and treasurer.

Please continue to visit our website for the latest Wilderness Land Trust news, and thank you for your continued support of our mission and vision to keep the promise of wilderness alive.