07/24/2026
Thank you !
Capping a career encompassing some of the most ambitious conservation achievements in Michigan's history, Helen Taylor announced her retirement effective at the end of the year from The Nature Conservancy in Michigan after 30 years, including 27 as its State Director.
Known for her relentless drive, boundless energy and absolute commitment to TNC's mission, her tenure is marked by ambitious projects, science-backed innovation, and strong partnerships with federal, state and tribal agencies, foundations, business leaders, philanthropists, conservation organizations, and communities across Michigan. Under her leadership, TNC expanded its focus in Michigan beyond acquiring and stewarding nature preserves to include landscape-scale conservation and restoration. This expanded focus resulted in the addition of 373,238 acres in conservation in Michigan during Helen's time, including 42 miles of Great Lakes shoreline, 503 miles of rivers and streams, 76,072 acres of wetlands, 4,042 acres of lakes and ponds and 3 entire Great Lakes islands.
Some of the projects that contributed to that conservation acreage include:
🌱 “The Big U.P. Deal” which permanently enshrined sustainable forestry and public access on more than 271,000 acres of commercial forestland across the Upper Peninsula in 2005;
🌱 The preservation of the beloved Saugatuck Harbor Natural Area in 2011;
🌱 One of the first Great Lakes reef restorations at the Elk Rapids reef in 2015;
🌱 Amending the Michigan Constitution to dedicate all future state-owned mineral revenue in perpetuity to the acquisition of lands of environmental and scenic importance and the creation of outdoor recreational facilities with the passage of Proposal 1 in 2020;
🌱 60 partnership transactions with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service and Michigan DNR to help expand the protection of important coastline, wildlife refuges and islands;
🌱 The protection of 14 miles of Lake Superior coastline in the Keweenaw Peninsula since 1999, followed by the creation of the 32,500-acre Keweenaw Heartlands project 23 years later, which will become a unique community-governed and managed forest, the first of its kind in Michigan.
Helen's contributions will endure beyond her retirement, not only in the hundreds of thousands of acres now permanently protected, but in the organization, partnerships, and community she built to expand the work in the coming decades, including an effective and strong board of trustees and a staff of professional scientists and conservationists working across the state to ensure that people and nature thrive.
The Nature Conservancy is actively recruiting the next State Director to lead The Nature Conservancy in Michigan and build upon the foundation of her work.
