Special Announcement: President & CEO Christopher J. Beichner Departing ALT

After 12 years of organizational growth and transformative projects, Allegheny Land Trust President and CEO Christopher J. Beichner is departing the organization at the end of November 2024. Chris has been the longest serving CEO in ALT’s history.

Under his leadership, ALT has grown from a small-but-mighty staff into a talented team of leaders advancing innovative and challenging projects to conserve more land, increase the ecological health of streams and habitats, and enhance nature-based learning opportunities. ALT expanded their strategic priorities from two to four, now including land conservation, stewardship, environmental education, and community conservation. The nonprofit’s budget increased from $500,000 in 2012 to $8.8 million for this budget year.

Under Chris’ tenure, the organization focused on equity in conservation, having recently completed a diversity, equity, inclusion, justice, and accessibility plan and having launched their community conservation program in 2015. The organization maintained a high standard of excellence, earning national reaccreditation multiple times since 2010.

“As I embark on a new professional and personal path, I will never forget and will always value my time at ALT,” Chris stated. “It has been an amazing journey and tremendous privilege to work alongside passionate, unwavering folks who care so much about conservation, and I look forward to learning about the many impressive achievements the ALT team will reach in the months and years ahead.”

Chris and his family will be moving to the state of Maine where he will begin as the President and CEO of the Forest Society of Maine (FSM). FSM is a statewide land trust with the purpose of conserving and stewarding the Maine North Woods – a 12-million-acre forest – the largest contiguous forest in the continental United States. Over the past 40 years, FSM has conserved over one million acres, making it the seventh largest land trust in the country by conserved acres.

ALT Board Chair Ted Weller expressed his appreciation by saying, “On behalf of Allegheny Land Trust’s Board of Directors, I want to thank Chris for his years of service and collaborative leadership in helping ALT to reach new heights. I am confident with the strong foundation we have achieved together; ALT is poised to have an even greater impact. We wish Chris tremendous success moving forward.”

ALT’s Board leadership has formed a CEO Search Committee and plans to launch a nationwide search for the next CEO in the coming weeks with the goal of identifying a new CEO by the first quarter of 2025.