Board of directors
President - lovina englund, Executive Director, palouse land trust
Growing up in farm and ranch country in eastern Oregon, Lovina roamed around the West until she found her home on the Palouse in 2003. Nature is weaved into the very fabric of her core, and time spent outdoors is her greatest delight. She joined the Idaho Coalition of Land Trusts executive committee in 2020.
Fueled by energy and enthusiasm for accelerating land conservation across north-central Idaho and eastern Washington, she entered the Idaho land trust community in 2018. Sharing stories of the land and getting to know people with vision and passion for conservation and community is the best part of her job.
A graduate of the University of Idaho with degrees in rangeland ecology and management (BS ’04, MS ’07), Lovina came into local land conservation with over a decade of experience. Before joining the Palouse Land Trust, she spent 10 years with the University of Idaho Rangeland Center supporting the transfer of science into the hands of those who care for the land, teaching and mentoring the next generation, and coordinating field data collection for the Natural Resources Inventory program across Idaho. She also worked as a conservation planner for the Palouse Conservation District, providing technical expertise to local farmers and ranchers, and managing projects related to fire recovery, conservation tillage, riparian restoration, and salmon recovery across southeastern Washington.
In her free time, she enjoys every opportunity to lace up her hiking boots or running shoes, pedal backroads and trails, read, explore new destinations, stop and look at flowers blooming or take in a view, tinker in the kitchen, and share a meal or a social spell with her favorite people. She lives in Moscow and shares adventures with her husband Karl and daughter Sienna.
Past President Craig Utter, Executive Director, Payette Land Trust
Craig was born and raised in the town of Evergreen on the eastern slope of Colorado, so he is no stranger to the issues faced by developing mountain towns. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Animal Science from Colorado State University and owned and operated a 300-head cow-calf ranching operation in the Sandhills of Nebraska for 13 years. He was involved with the Nebraska Cattlemen’s Association and eventually chaired their Natural Resources and Environment Committee. Simultaneously, he became involved with a variety of private land conservation programs, most notably the Leopold Conservation Award presented by the Sand County Foundation. Craig was instrumental in bringing this prestigious national private land stewardship award to Nebraska. Much of the success of the Nebraska award can be attributed to the collaboratives he helped facilitate between private landowners and a diverse group of stakeholders.
In 2006, he moved to McCall and was hired as a USFS firefighter on an engine stationed in Warren. “I thought I would fight fire for one year and then go back to graduate school,” Craig said “Then I was hired on as a member of the Krassel Helitack crew and rappelled out of a helicopter. That was eleven summers ago, never made it back to school.” He remained on the helicopter crew from 2007 until 2017.
During his winters off from fighting fire, he continued to work with the Sand County Foundation, coordinating the Nebraska Leopold Conservation Award from McCall. Craig has also worked 3 seasons in Antarctica for the National Science Foundation. Two seasons as a fixed-wing cargo specialist and one year as a helicopter crew member.
Craig brings almost 20 years of environmental and conservation-based non-profit experience and a strong understanding of the importance of collaboration.
secretary Katie Cox, Executive Director, Kaniksu Land Trust
Katie’s love of nature was cultivated during her youth growing up in the wilds of Idaho. A true Idaho girl, summers were spent swimming in lakes, backpacking into the Frank Church Wilderness and taking long drives through the wheat fields of the Palouse. Born and raised in Moscow and Elk City, Idaho, Katie has always believed that spending time in nature is integral to one’s growth. She and her husband, Brian, believe in cultivating these same values and traditions in their three young girls. Katie and Brian are proud to be raising fifth generation Idahoans.
Katie received her B.S. in Education from the University of Idaho and a Masters in Architecture from the University of Washington. Thus far, Katie has focused her professional life in the fields of Education and Architecture, with a particular interest in building community.
In 2019, Katie set a new course when she became the Executive Director at Kaniksu Land Trust in Sandpoint. KLT leads with a strong focus in community conservation which weaves directly into Katie's past experience in community-centered education and design. She is proud to help save beautiful lands in North Idaho and Northwest Montana and support the communities who call these places home.
treasurer Tess O’Sullivan, Land Conservation Strategy Lead, The Nature Conservancy
Tess is the Land Conservation Strategy Lead for The Idaho Chapter of The Nature Conservancy. As a dedicated conservation professional with over 20 years of experience, Tess brings expertise in conservation easements, botany, ecology, wildlife migration, public funding for conservation, ecological monitoring, and partnerships. She currently works on landscape scale land conservation efforts throughout the state. Prior to her work with TNC, she worked for Lava Lake Land & Livestock, a ranch dedicated to stewarding and improving the land and to raising high quality grass-fed lamb sold direct to customers. In addition to making a difference for Idaho, Tess enjoys connecting with plants and trying to keep up with her tireless husky and very active kids in the mountains.
Director, Kim Trotter, Executive Director, Teton Regional Land Trust
Kim Trotter is the Executive Director at the Teton Regional Land Trust. For more than three decades, Kim has helped conserve agricultural lands, fish and wildlife habitat, and sustainable communities in Idaho and the Northern Rockies. Her background includes biodiversity conservation, environmental policy, wildlife and large landscape ecology, land and water transactions, and ecological connectivity and restoration.
Kim received her Master of Environmental Management in resource ecology from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Puget Sound.
Contractors
Justin Buckley, ACEP ALE Coordinator (contractor)
Justin brings extensive project management experience to ICOLT across the public, private, and non-profit sectors. He's a proven collaborator and is comfortable in challenging situations with multiple layers of stakeholder expectations. He works closely with ICOLT's member land trusts and NRCS to support all aspects of the ACEP-ALE process and will help streamline the process for efficient and timely closings.
His previous experience in education management and an impact-driven food startup uniquely position him to navigate the multiple layers of compliance of the ACEP-ALE program. His most recent project includes restarting an obligated ACEP-ALE contract stuck in the early due diligence phase and effectively moving the easement towards closing.
Justin serves as the board president of the Boise Urban Garden School and was a member of the inaugural cohort of Emerging Leaders for Idaho’s Environment. He lives in Boise and considers the Lemhi Valley his home away from home.
Kyle Barber, ACEP ALE Subject Matter Expert (contractor)
Kyle's breadth of experience with ALE since 2010 is extensive. He's managed and supervised all aspects of Bitter Root Land Trust's (BRLT) conservation easement and fee title acquisitions leading to a ten-fold increase in conserved acreage including more than four dozen conservation transactions.
He significantly increased the pace, quality and professionalism of BRLT's conservation program in a complex, politically sensitive community and has developed and fostered strong relationships with a diverse array of local, state, federal and nonprofit conservation partners, including the NRCS, United States Forest Service, Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks, Montana Association of Land Trusts, Heart of the Rockies, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and many others.
In his time there, he established BRLT as a regional and national leader on relevant statutory, regulatory, and policy requirements of the Farm & Ranchland Protection Program, the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program, and the Regional Conservation Partnership Program. He has managed or supervised the succesful completion of more than a dozen ALE Conservation Easements, and left the organization with a deep pipeline of ten additional ALE and RCPP projects obligated and in active development.
Kyle and his family live in Hamilton, Montana.