Conservation Legacy Announces Amy Sovocool as Chief Executive Officer

For Immediate Release: Monday, March 27, 2021

Durango, Colorado—Conservation Legacy's Board of Directors has announced Amy Sovocool as the organization's Chief Executive Officer, effective April 3, 2023. Sovocool joins a strong and proven team of leaders at Conservation Legacy and a cadre of female leadership amongst the nation’s top conservation corps organizations.

April 22, 2022 | Nature is central to humans’ wellbeing. Yet, modern society continues to wander farther from it. Days indoors, excessive screen time, desk jobs, lack of physical activity, long commutes; it’s no wonder that one in five people experience mental health illnesses each year, as published by the National Alliance on Mental Illness. This Earth Day, we recognize AmeriCorps members, organizations, and federal land management agencies’ efforts to connect people with nature.

December 6, 2021 | Durango, Colorado—Conservation Legacy Chairman and former US Department of Agriculture Deputy Undersecretary Butch Blazer announced Elwood York as the new Chief Executive Officer today.

June 1st, 2021 |“It worked before and it can work again,” the Democrat from Lafayette said of the New Deal-era program, which he and President Joe Biden would like to revive — albeit on a smaller scale and focused on combating climate change. Neguse’s plan is to empower nonprofits and government agencies to build trails and fences, fight forest fires, remove invasive species and do an array of other work, primarily on public lands. In return, the organizations would receive federal money.

January 16th, 2021 | Conservation Legacy operates 'affinity crews' within each of its seven crew-based programs across the country, in an effort to advance representation for marginalized communities in the outdoors. Affinity crews present opportunities for members to gain hands-on experience, training, and professional development in the conservation world—an industry that has been dominated by white men both historically and contemporarily. We can’t hope to achieve diversification within our industry without first creating an equitable and inclusive space where individuals from different backgrounds feel welcome, and affinity crews are one step on the journey towards making the outdoors and public lands feel safe and welcoming for all.

September 24, 2020 | DURING CHALLENGING PUBLIC HEALTH AND ECONOMIC TIMES, SERVICE CORPS PROVIDE RELIEF FOR PARKS AND OPPORTUNITY FOR YOUNG LEADERS.

WASHINGTON—In honor of National Public Lands Day on Saturday, September 26, an annual celebration dedicated to restoring and improving public lands, the National Park Foundation today announced a more than $3.7 million investment in service corps programs across the country during fiscal year 2020, up from approximately $3.5 million in fiscal year 2019. Check out the highlight of Conservation Corps North Carolina!

August, 2020 | This will be updated regularly by Conservation Legacy staff with changes or further announcements. Last updated 8/18/20.

The safety of our participants, staff, and partners is our utmost priority. We have activated an Incident Response Team dedicated to addressing the impact of COVID-19 on our organization.

Below you will find updates regarding Conservation Legacy’s response to the emerging concerns related to the COVID-19 (Coronavirus).

June 12, 2020 | FARMINGTON – Local nonprofit and national service agencies are hiring for a new AmeriCorps contact-tracing program to assist public health officials in tracking the spread of the coronavirus.

Conservation Legacy and Community Resource Center announced they were hiring 350 summer AmeriCorps Vista associates for the program, supported by Colorado Gov. Jared Polis.

January 6, 2020 | When Shirena Trujillo Long started 15 years ago as the coordinator of El Centro de Muchos Colores at Fort Lewis College, she was tasked with helping to recruit and retain Hispanic students, an enormous job for a small center.

Trujillo Long left El Centro at the end of December, but she plans to continue working on equity and inclusion goals as the director of diversity recruitment for Conservation Legacy, a national organization for the nonprofit focused on conservation service projects. Trujillo Long plans to work out of the nonprofit’s Durango offices.

September 6, 2019 | America’s national park system is getting wilder by the second—and that’s not great news for visitors. This country’s park system is made up of more than 85 million acres of outdoor space. It features pristine forestland, breathtaking canyons, and monumental former battlefields across all 50 states.