08/28/2026
Hi, all. It's time for our monthly Friday Five Feature! This time we're chatting with Heartland Conservation Alliance Executive Director Logan Heley. In addition to its traditional land trust role, HCA performs a tremendous amount of community outreach, shared vision work and partnership across the Kansas City region. Logan shares with us some of the most important work that HCA has done, is doing and will be engaging in for years to come! (Logan featured in foreground of attached photo.)
MLTC: You’ve been an integral part of the work to restore and protect the Blue River Watershed, which flows across both Kansas and Missouri areas to where it meets the Missouri River. What are some of the lessons learned for you and HCA on tackling such a major project with almost limitless potential but with so many different kinds of landscapes?
Logan: Tackling the Blue River Watershed—which spans across two states, four counties, and 21 municipalities to serve over 800,000 residents—has taught us that natural systems do not respect political boundaries. The biggest lesson is that successful conservation requires turning the 40-mile Blue River into a shared civic asset that people can experience, not just drive past. From historic crossing points like Byram’s Ford to suburban headwaters in Kansas and urban stretches in Missouri, every neighborhood has a distinct ecological and cultural story. We have learned that reconnecting Kansas City to its river requires radical collaboration: adapting our work to local community needs while maintaining a unified bi-state vision. Effective watershed management means aligning upstream and downstream partners so land restoration directly enhances community resilience and clean water across the region.
MLTC: HCA’s work is broader than that of a traditional land trust, as you not only permanently protect land throw ownership and conservation easement but you do it across both urban and suburban tracts and also engage in planting and other “on the ground” environmental restoration activities. How, with such a broad palette, do you strategically prioritize how to allocate your human and financial resources?
Logan: With a broad portfolio spanning traditional land protection, urban tree canopy expansion, outdoor education, and hands-on habitat restoration, strategic prioritization relies on impact, equity, and multi-sector partnerships. We use data-driven conservation planning to target high-need areas, such as our ARPA-funded partnership restoring up to 240 acres of riparian habitat alongside Bridging the Gap, Deep Roots, MARC, and the City of Kansas City. We also build scalable program models like our Blue River Nature Guide (BRiNG) initiative, which leverages multi-year jurisdictional MoUs to secure predictable funding and staffing. Rather than working in isolation, HCA prioritizes projects where environmental return on investment intersects with community access to nature, stretching our resources across anchor properties like the Heartland Overlook Preserve, the Heartland Flats, and municipal parklands.
MLTC: You’re often in the middle of collaborations that, especially in dense urban areas, can garner many different opinions and perspectives from the community, which may go well beyond the realm of typical land trust issues. How does HCA both serve as a community partner and catalyst on publicly facing issues while ensuring you can fulfill the more traditional land trust land and water protection role?
Logan: We see community partnership as the cornerstone of traditional land trust work, guided by our core vision: connecting nature, connecting communities. In dense urban environments, environmental health is deeply linked to public health, infrastructure, and neighborhood stability. By stepping up as an active listener and community catalyst on broad public issues, HCA builds authentic trust with residents, municipal leaders, and neighborhood groups. This community-first presence directly strengthens our traditional land trust role. When we secure conservation easements or acquire lands like the Heartland Overlook Preserve, those properties are welcomed and cared for by local residents who view them as vital neighborhood assets. Engaging community members as Blue River Ambassadors ensures our permanent land and water protections carry true local stewardship for generations to come.
MLTC: HCA has been a place where you can mesh your background in community engagement, public administration, planning and communications to help facilitate effective solutions in many ways. Your strategic plan extends through 2027, but beyond that, what are some of the new strategic directions you see for HCA over the next decade, and how do those further the land trust-related aspects of the organization?
Logan: Looking beyond our 2027 strategic plan, HCA’s future lies in expanding climate resilience, urban heat mitigation, and formalizing regional green infrastructure policies. Our goal is to extend formal partnership agreements and MOUs across all four major watershed jurisdictions—Jackson and Johnson Counties, Kansas City and Overland Park—to build a fully connected bi-state greenway corridor. From a land trust perspective, this means scaling up urban conservation easements and expanding public-private land management partnerships. We want to ensure protected spaces are not isolated natural islands, but part of a continuous 40-mile network buffering neighborhoods against extreme weather while providing equitable outdoor access. Integrating ecological health directly into regional growth strategies will allow us to double our permanent conservation footprint over the next decade.
MLTC: You personally have served as a city council member and president in a Kansas City suburban community. How does this political experience help you think about and enhance your role as a land trust executive director?
Logan: Serving in local government provided me with essential insight into municipal budgeting, land-use planning, public works, and intergovernmental dynamics. Conservation work does not happen in a vacuum; in our case it spans 21 municipalities and four counties, requiring close coordination with city councils, park boards, and regional planning agencies. My public sector background helps me translate land trust priorities into the language of municipal economic development, stormwater management, and public health. It enables HCA to structure complex, multi-agency initiatives—such as our ARPA restoration contracts and multi-year jurisdictional MoUs—that align non-profit conservation goals with city infrastructure needs, turning public policy into permanent land protection.
For more info, visit heartlandconservationalliance.org
