Our Board of Directors includes professionals from diverse backgrounds and regions of the country, but they are all committed to one thing – ensuring that NALT remains a vibrant and creative force for land conservation.
John van Heusen Halsey, Chairman of the Board
John v.H. Halsey is founder and President of the Peconic Land Trust, a nonprofit land conservation organization serving Long Island, NY. The Trust’s professional staff identifies and implements alternatives to development that result in the perpetual protection of working farms and natural lands on Long Island. Since it was founded in 1983, the Trust has completed more than 400 projects. In partnership with landowners, communities, municipalities, and like-minded organizations, the Trust has protected approximately 12,000 acres. The Trust is currently engaged in over 100 pending projects comprising several thousand acres that are key to defining the communities of Long Island and to preserving its rural heritage. John serves on the boards of the North American Land Trust, Nassau Land Trust, South Fork Land Foundation, and the Southampton Youth Association. He is former Chair of the Land Trust Alliance/New York Advisory Board and board member emeritus of the Long Island Community Foundation. Mr. Halsey earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a M.S.W. from the University of California, Berkeley.
Stephen Thor Johnson, President
Stephen is the second President of North American Land Trust, succeeding Andrew Johnson. He has a long career in conservation as a scientist, state government official, land trust executive, real estate development professional and as a consultant.
Stephen previously served as executive director for two regional land trusts that he served for over 15 years (Sudbury Valley Trustees, MA and Gallatin Valley Land Trust, MT). He has also worked in commercial real estate where he was responsible for managing permitting and financing for complex real estate transactions. Stephen began his career with the Commonwealth of MA holding posts in the Department of Fisheries and Wildlife in land conservation planning, and the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs as Director of Land Policy. He administered the Massachusetts Open Space Bond Programs, Land and Water Conservation Funds, and the Division of Conservation Services.
Stephen earned a BA from Dartmouth College in Biology and Environmental Studies, and a Master of City Planning from MIT with a concentration in environmental policy. He is an active volunteer and serves as Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees of the Conway School of Landscape Design. Prior to moving to Pennsylvania, he served on the Lincoln (MA) Conservation Commission, and the Lincoln Ridge Conservation Trust.
When he is not working on conservation projects, he likes to bicycle, fly fish, cross country ski and canoe.
J. Paul Haldeman, Treasurer
Mr. Haldeman served as the Business Manager of Conservation Advisors and the North American Land Trust from 1994 until 2004. In October 2004, Mr. Haldeman was appointed Vice President of North American Land Trust and presently serves as treasurer. In addition, he serves as board member and treasurer of the Chadds Ford Historical Society, board member and treasurer of the Brandywine Valley Hemophilia Foundation and serves as Chairman of the Pocopson Township Open Space Advisory Committee.
John D. Snook
Mr. Snook serves as Senior Advisor on the staff of the Brandywine Conservancy’s Environmental Management Center and has extensive experience in working with local governments, landowners and developers in preserving open space through innovative site planning and design efforts. Mr. Snook makes frequent presentations to a broad range of audiences interested in community planning issues and also serves on occasion as an adjunct professor of land use planning at West Chester University, PA.
John Witherspoon
Mr. Witherspoon is managing director of Conservation Advisors of North Carolina, a consulting group in Brevard, North Carolina, which works with landowners in the evaluation and implementation of conservation strategies. Mr. Witherspoon’s work with North American Land Trust began in 1997 during his management of Richland Ridge, an innovative conservation-based community, which has become a model for similar projects in the region, and whose success resulted from a partnership between a conservation investor group and North American Land Trust. Mr. Witherspoon’s expertise ranges from conservation easements and their tax benefits to planning and ownership issues.
W. Tredick McIntire
Tred served as Managing Director and Global Head of Agency Securities Lending at Goldman Sachs from 1998 to 2016. At Goldman Sachs, he was also a member of the Management Committee of Goldman Sachs Bank USA. Tred began his career at Goldman Sachs in 1984 and served in a number of business management roles including CFO of the Equities Division, CFO/CAO of Prime Brokerage, head of margin lending to private wealth clients and head of the off-shore fund administration business. Prior to Goldman Sachs, Tred spent five years at Price Waterhouse & Co., as an auditor and management consultant, and he qualified as a CPA in New York. From 2000 to 2016, Tred served as a member of the Executive Committee on Securities Lending of the Risk Management Association, an industry trade group. Tred earned his A.B. in Economics from Harvard College and an M.B.A. in Finance and Accounting from Columbia Business School.
Jack Butler
Mr. Butler works for Nalco in the water treatment division of Ecolab. He was a VP for land acquisition for Toll Brothers where he championed smart development with conserved open spaces. Prior to that, he worked at GE as an Environmental Manager in Acquisitions, Divestitures and Discontinued Operations. A major project was the clean-up and re-purposing of the GE transformer test facility in South Philadelphia. He took the property through a PA Act 2 clean-up and successfully transferred the property to the USPS for re-use as a regional mail sorting facility. Jack earned a BS in Wildlife Biology from the College of Environmental Science and Forestry at Syracuse University and an MS in Environmental Engineering from Northeastern University. He is a licensed Professional Engineer.
He enjoys playing tennis, swimming, hiking and outdoor photography in his spare time.
Saskia van de Gevel
Saskia van de Gevel has been a faculty member in the Department of Geography and Planning at Appalachian State University since 2008. She received her BS in Forest Science at Penn State University in 2000, her MS in Forest Ecology at Southern Illinois University in 2002, and her PhD in Geography from the University of Tennessee in 2008. Saskia was promoted to Associate Professor and granted tenure in 2015. Saskia’s expertise is in understanding long-term climatic and disturbance trends in endangered mountain forest ecosystems. She uses dendrochronology as a research tool to investigate landscape-scale dynamics in a historical context. Saskia has a strong history of collaboration with scientists, multidisciplinary faculty, and land management agencies to establish research opportunities, funding, and peer-reviewed publications. The National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the National Geographic Society have funded her research. She is the National Geographic North Carolina Geography Steward and the Coordinator of the North Carolina Geographic Alliance. Saskia actively publishes her research with students in journals such as Forests, Trees, Ecoscience, Endangered Species Research, Botany, and Tree-Ring Research. Saskia recently earned a 2017 Board of Governors – Appalachian State University College Excellence in Teaching Award.
Additional Officers
George Asimos, Jr., Esquire, Secretary
A partner with the firm of Saul, Ewing LLP, Mr. Asimos has practiced real estate and land use law for 25 years. He has represented North American Land Trust since its founding. Mr. Asimos has drafted or supervised the drafting of most of North American Land Trust’s conservation easements. He is a regular presenter at seminars and conferences on the subject of conservation easements and conservation planning in the context of development.
Jamie McVickar, Assistant Secretary and Assistant Treasurer
Mr. McVickar was hired as the Controller for North American Land Trust in April 2002, and has been the assistant secretary since September of 2002. He has over 20 years of experience in small business management. In 1982, Mr. McVickar bicycled close to 5,000 miles across the United States to raise money for a home for developmentally disabled children. He also served as statistician on the Philadelphia Flyers broadcasts for more than 20 years.
Steven Carter, Assistant Secretary
Mr. Carter was hired in June 2001 and has been promoted to Stewardship Director, as well as serving as the assistant secretary since September of 2010. He has over 15 years of experience in land trust administration and management. Mr. Carter is an active volunteer and long standing committee member for Kennett Township, and fosters rescue dogs in his free time.