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OUR TEAM

Meet the team working hard to save land in Northwest Arkansas!
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Grady Spann

Executive Director and CEO

Grady Spann serves as the organization’s CEO, responsible for managing the overall operations and resources of NWALT, serving as the public face of the organization, coordinating with the board, and leading the short and long-term strategies of the land trust.

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Before joining NWALT, Grady worked for Arkansas State Parks where he served for 28 years. In 2016 he was named Director. He also served as a park ranger after graduating from the Arkansas Law Enforcement Training Academy in 1995.

 

Grady is the past president of the National Association of State Park Directors (NASPD), past president of the Association of Southeast State Park Directors, and formerly the Chairman of the Board of Regents for NASPD State Park Leadership School.

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Prior to working for Arkansas State Parks, Spann served in the U.S. Army for nine years as a military tactical intelligence and counterintelligence officer. He was stationed at Fort Huachuca, Arizona; Fort Polk, Louisiana; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil; and in Washington D.C. 

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Grady is an avid cyclist, camper, and RVer, racking up miles on two and four wheels across the United States with his wife and family.

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Marson Nance

Director of Philanthropy

Marson oversees NWALT’s giving and grassroots support program. He is responsible for planning and executing the Land Trust’s strategic development plan, working with advocates and donors at all levels to secure financial support for NWALT’s mission and to help community members achieve their philanthropic goals.

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Marson served as Director of Land Stewardship and Research at NWALT for five years. He is deeply knowledgeable about the Land Trust’s operations from land protection to land stewardship and the organization as a whole.​

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Through his career at NWALT, Marson has secured funding for landscape scale land protection projects as well as government and private funding for habitat restoration and public access on NWALT preserves.

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A native of the Blue Ridge Mountains in North Carolina, Marson has a Bachelor’s of Science in Environmental Biology from the University of North Carolina, Asheville. Marson served as an environmental project manager on large-scale energy and infrastructure projects and as an environmental consultant in Nevada, California, and Florida. He also served as a lake manager for Orange County, Florida Government, where he managed over 2,000 acres of surface water for improvements in water quality and aquatic habitat. Marson served as the government liaison to citizens’ advisory boards and as a divisional representative to the Orange County Board of County Commissioners.

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Together with his wife Cheyenne, and two children, Marson enjoys travel, gardening, birding, camping, and playing guitar in his band Higher Arkies. 

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Pam Nelson

Director of Land Protection

Pam Nelson leads NWALT’s land protection team, working with landowners to place new lands into conservation. Pam manages detailed real estate due diligence and conservation easement drafting and serves as NWALT’s GIS specialist. In addition, Pam oversees the execution of NWALT’s strategic land protection plan and works with state, federal, and local partners to protect important lands in Northwest Arkansas.

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Pam grew up in Dallas, Texas. She has a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from the University of North Texas and a master’s degree in Applied Geography with a focus on Environmental Studies from Texas State University. She served as an environmental educator for The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment in San Marcos, Texas, a Teacher Naturalist with the Richardson Bay Audubon Center in Marin County, California, and Program Manager for Texas Alliance for Geographic Education. 

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When not saving land, Pam loves gardening, hiking, and canoeing with her husband, two sons, and dog

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Renee Sniegocki

Director of Land Stewardship

Renee oversees NWALT’s land stewardship program. She is responsible for planning and executing strategies to meet the organization’s land stewardship goals, including overseeing the management of NWALT's public access nature preserves and ensuring the long-term protection and stewardship of NWALT's conservation easement portfolio.

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Born and raised in Little Rock, Arkansas, Renee spent her childhood exploring the Ozark and Ouachita mountains with her family, and has since dedicated her life to protecting wild lands. She earned a bachelor's degree in Biology at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina and worked as a volunteer coordinator for the college’s service-learning office.

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During her summers in undergraduate and in the 10 years following, Renee worked as a seasonal Biological Science and Forestry Technician for the National Park Service at park units in Colorado, Tennessee, and Alaska. Her roles there included: forest management, invasive species eradication, ecosystem restoration, search and rescue, and wildland firefighting. In Spring of 2020, Renee earned her Master's Degree in Biology at the University of Arkansas which focused on the effects of land use change on soil microbial diversity and carbon cycling in the tropical forests of Borneo.

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In her free time, Renee enjoys backpacking, canoeing, fly fishing, and van camping with her husband. Together, they backpacked the lengths of both the Ouachita and Ozark Highlands Trails.

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Evan Johnson

Conservation Easement Manager

Evan serves as NWALT’s boots-on-the-ground land conservationist. He oversees environmental due diligence and the collection of baseline documentation for new land protection projects. Evan also leads outreach efforts to engage new landowners in NWALT’s strategic land protection areas.

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Evan is a native of Fayetteville, Arkansas and grew up fishing the White River and exploring the Ozark National Forest with his family.

Evan earned his bachelor’s degree in Environmental Management and Policy at the University of North Carolina, Asheville. While in Asheville, he interned with Defenders of Wildlife and later joined the Blue Ridge Service Corps, where he served with Habitat for Humanity as a Volunteer Coordinator and Deconstruction Specialist. He also worked with Lake Logan Retreat Center, helping to build the foundational curriculum for the new Outdoor School. In the summer months, Evan worked at Camp Kanuga as a Camp Counselor where he led outdoor education activities. He is a Certified Interpretive Guide.

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Evan loves to play disc golf in his free time and is always aspiring to bring his game to the next level! If he is not disc golfing, you will find him rooting for the Charlotte Hornets from afar, or trout fishing in the Ozarks.

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Brittney Booth

Land Stewardship Coordinator

Brittney serves as NWALT's boots-on-the-ground land steward. She leads NWALT's habitat restoration, land management, and public access projects on NWALT preserves. Brittney is NWALT's principal conservation easement monitor, working closely with landowners to ensure NWALT's promise of permanent land protection.

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Brittney is a Botanist and Ecologist and holds a Masters Degree in Biology from the University of Arkansas where she studied the botanical diversity of glade ecosystems in NWA. She served as a Teacher Naturalist at the Ozark Natural Science Center and as a land stewardship intern for NWALT. After interning, Brittney worked with NWALT as a Seasonal Botanist and Stewardship Specialist for NWALT, managing invasive plants at Wilson Springs and Westside Prairie. She has also worked as an Aeroallergen Pollen Counting Technician identifying and reporting on airborne allergens that affect NWA residents. Brittney has worked as a Botany Technician for the University of Arkansas Herbarium, performing botanical surveys across Arkansas and Kansas.

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When she’s not botanizing, Brittney enjoys hiking, reading, and baking. She also likes to spend her time traveling, drawing, and hanging out with her cats.

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