Audubon hires new Executive Director
Audubon Texas is pleased to announce that Brian Trusty will be helming the statewide conservation organization as the new Executive Director. Brian comes with a diverse and successful track record of innovative management in conservation lands and programs over the last 20 years, and is a familiar friend to many public agency partners of Audubon Texas, having worked in parks management and consulting throughout his career.
“It is tremendously exciting to have Brian take the reins of Audubon Texas,” said George Bristol, the organization’s State Advisory Board Chair. “With his passion for conservation, his dedication, and his genuine approach to building relationships across the State of Texas, I can think of no person better suited to lead this outstanding organization.”
Born and raised in Texas, Brian’s passion for the state’s outdoors began at an early age. Growing up in the Texas Hill Country hamlet of Wimberley, his childhood experiences conditioned him for a lifetime of commitment to Texas landscapes and wildlife.
“Texas is one of the most ecologically important states in the country, particularly to bird life and continental flyways, and it is critical that the work of Audubon Texas continue with our partners and stakeholders to protect the integrity of our diverse and fragile ecology,” commented Trusty. “It is a great honor and a huge responsibility to lead this organization into the future.”
As Executive Director, Brian will lead the Texas team in implementing an integrated conservation program including the Audubon Centers at Dogwood Canyon, Trinity River and Mitchell Lake; the Texas Coastal Stewardship Program; and the growing Important Bird Areas Program. Additionally, Trusty will work with Audubon Texas staff to support and enrich the efforts of the 20 local Audubon chapters in Texas, and the multiple public agency partners that are a major part of the organization’s success in conservation.
“Brian has a tremendous talent for connecting with Texans from all walks of life, and for translating their love of our state’s natural treasures into support for conserving them,” observed Andy Sansom, Vice Chair of the Audubon Texas State Advisory Board. “Brian’s ability to build on the shared values of Texans and to integrate those into the regional priorities of the Central Flyway will serve Texas well in the years to come.”
Trusty remarked, “I hope I can continue to be a part of the great tradition of Texans pitching in to get the job done. We are an essential piece of a larger conservation puzzle and we couldn’t do it without the invaluable support we receive from our staff, stakeholders, partners and donors.”
Brian has developed and managed successful conservation and land management programs for numerous public parks and private lands in multiple states and in diverse ecosystems, and overseen conservation easements involving public and private funding and lands. His successful integration of public and private resources to create a pioneering approach in his work earned him an “Innovator of the Year” award in Maryland in 2007 given by the Daily Record, Maryland’s leading legal and business journal. He is an avid rock climber, mountain biker and outdoorsman, and a happily married father of two. Brian is based in the Dallas office and began work on November 19th.