None The Nature Conservancy in Virginia Press Releases Search All Press Releases David Dadurka Phone: (240) 731-1606 Email: ddadurka@tnc.org

Nature Conservancy Appoints Director of Allegheny Highlands Program

New director has expertise in wildlife biology, background in environmental education

Warm Springs, VA — March 21, 2008 — The Nature Conservancy has appointed Marek Smith as director of the Virginia chapter’s Allegheny Highlands Program. Smith will manage the 9,000-acre Warm Springs Mountain Preserve and other conservation projects in Bath, Highland, and Alleghany counties.

Before joining the Conservancy, Smith worked for the Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Departments in North Carolina for more than 10 years, most recently as natural resources coordinator. In Mecklenburg, he managed conservation activities on 5,800 acres of natural areas. Those activities included coordination of bird monitoring initiatives, implementation of prescribed burns and control of invasive species. Smith also served as environmental education supervisor for Mecklenburg County.

A native of Lynchburg, Virginia, Smith received his bachelor’s degree in biology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. He received his master’s degree in biology from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Smith’s graduate thesis investigated the survivorship of orphaned barn owls raised in captivity and then released. 

“As a student at Virginia Tech, I frequently went birding in Highland County, which was among the places that inspired me to pursue ornithology,” Smith said. “Highland and Bath County are situated in the heart of the Central Appalachians—one of the world’s most intact forests. I look forward to working with these communities to conserve the lands and waters that are important to survival of wildlife and people both locally and globally.”

The Conservancy launched its Allegheny Highlands Program in 2002 with the purchase of Warm Springs Mountain Preserve. The Allegheny Highlands Program recently joined federal and state agencies in the first large-scale prescribed burn at Warm Springs Mountain. The Conservancy’s Allegheny Highlands Program offers regular guided hikes about the natural resources and natural history of Warm Springs Mountain.

For more information on the Allegheny Highlands Program, visit nature.org/virginia.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organization working around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters for nature and people. To date, the Conservancy and its more than one million members have been responsible for the protection of more than 15 million acres in the United States and have helped preserve more than 102 million acres in Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and the Pacific. Visit The Nature Conservancy on the Web at www.nature.org.