New York Advisory Council

The New York Land Trust Advisory Board was first established in 1991 by New York land trust leaders to create a stronger and more cohesive land trust community in New York. In the early 1990s, the advisory board invited the Land Trust Alliance to launch a New York program. This became the Alliance's first field office. In 2021, the board became the New York Advisory Council.

While the council is not a formal board of directors and has no fiduciary duty to the Land Trust Alliance, its advisory function has been vital to the Alliance and the New York Program. The council helps the Alliance think strategically, remain entrepreneurial and develop and test programs that can benefit the New York land trust community and the nation. The Alliance provides staff support to the council and recruits expertise and resources to address opportunities and challenges raised by its members that fall within the Alliance’s mission and goals for the New York Program.

• Ben Gajewski, executive director, Genesee Valley Conservancy

• Vacant

• Judy Anderson, principal, Community Consultants

• Mike Carr, executive director, Adirondack Land Trust

• Linda Garrett, New York regional director, American Farmland Trust

• John Halsey, president, Peconic Land Trust

• Mike Horn, executive director, Lake George Land Conservancy

• Seth McKee, executive director, Scenic Hudson Land Trust

• Kathy Moser, chief conservation and policy officer, Open Space Institute

• Lisa Ott, president and CEO, North Shore Land Alliance

• Jessica Ottney, director of government relations, The Nature Conservancy

• Teri Ptacek, board member, Grassland Birds Trust

• Katrina Shindledecker, executive director, Hudson Highlands Land Trust

• Jennifer Wong, executive director, Cazenovia Preservation Foundation

• Andrew Zepp, executive director, Finger Lakes Land Trust

• Peter Lopez, executive director of policy, advocacy and science, Scenic Hudson Land Trust

• Edward "Ted" Warren, public policy manager, Hudson Highlands Land Trust