The Centre for Land Conservation is overseen by a Board of Directors and managed by staff whose collective skills include expertise and experience in land conservation and policy, not-for-profit governance, government relations, communications, funding, and management.
Board Members
Nathalie Pratte (she/her)
Board Chair
Nathalie Pratte is a forestry engineer with a master’s degree in environmental sciences and a MBA. After a career in forestry and financial analysis, Nathalie founded Envirostrategies Consulting Group in 1995 to offer consulting services in environmental management and strategy to large Canadian corporations. After a decade, she gradually left the consulting business to develop a new career through board memberships.
Nathalie has been involved with Nature Conservancy of Canada since 2007 and was Chair of the Quebec Board from 2011 to 2013 and Chair of the National Board from 2013 to 2015. She was very glad to join the board of the Centre for Land Conservation as she is convinced of the necessity of a performance assurance program based on the Canadian Land Trust Standards and Practices to support the land trust community in Canada. She is also very enthusiastic at the idea of developing a Centre of Excellence for conservation.
Alan Peatt (he/him)
Executive Director, Southern Interior Land Trust Society
Alan Peatt has more than 40 years’ experience in fish-wildlife-forestry interactions. He was the senior provincial wildlife/habitat biologist in the Okanagan Region of British Columbia from 1984 to 2000. From 1981 to 1996, Alan was pivotal in securing both private and Crown lands for habitat conservation in the BC southern interior. Some examples include Ginty’s Pond and Edward’s Pond wetlands; Skaha bighorn sheep properties; Antlers Saddle deer winter range; Swan Lake uplands; and many parcels now included in the South Okanagan Wildlife Management Area.
Alan has built an extensive network of contacts and experience working with government, First Nations, non-government conservation organizations and industry. He is a Fellow and former director of the Association of Professional Biology.
Alan is currently Executive Director of the Southern Interior Land Trust Society, and co-owner of Bearfoot Resources Ltd., an environmental consulting business, both active at conserving wildlife and their habitats in the southern interior of British Columbia.
Bruce MacLellan (he/him)
Senior Counsellor in Strategic Communications
Bruce MacLellan is a communications consultant and business founder with a career spanning over four decades. As a volunteer, he has been active in the conservation sector for a quarter century, including serving as the volunteer President of a local land trust in Ontario and as the national board Chair of the Nature Conservancy of Canada. Bruce received the Vision Award in 2016 from the Ontario Land Trust Alliance.
For the past decade, Bruce has led the CanTrust Index™, an annual study of trust in Canada, surveying more than 15,000 Canadians over the years. The research and accompanying insights are shared publicly to advance knowledge on how to maintain and grow trust.
In the not-for-profit conservation sector, Bruce is experienced in governance, fundraising, communications, donor relations, land acquisition and stewardship. He holds an MA in Public Administration from the University of Toronto.
Eliza Mitchell (she/her)
Cattle Rancher
Eliza is a cattle rancher in Tatlayoko Lake, a small community in the interior of British Columbia. She has served two terms on the national board of the Nature Conservancy of Canada (NCC) and now serves on the NCC regional board in British Columbia. She is also a director of The W Garfield Weston Foundation in Canada and the UK.
Karen Cooper (she/her)
Lawyer, Charitable and Not-For-Profit Law group of KPMG Law LLP.
Karen Cooper practices charity and not-for-profit law with an emphasis on corporate and tax issues. Her practice focuses on creating, restructuring and maintaining corporations, advising on governance issues, securing and defending charitable registrations, and advising high net worth families on how to achieve their philanthropic objectives. In addition to her considerable legal experience, Karen also has extensive speaking and teaching experience, including presenting workshops as a part-time professor at a few leading Canadian universities. She has been recognized as a leading expert in charity and not-for-profit law by Chambers, Lexpert, and The Best Lawyers in Canada. She also serves in a leadership capacity on a number of charity and not-for-profit boards. Karen has been on the Board of CLC since 2006 and provides legal advice to many land trusts and other environmental organizations.
Peter Arcese (he/him)
Forest Renewal Chair in Conservation, University of British Columbia
Peter Arcese is a conservation and evolutionary biologist with experience in North America, South America and Africa studying large mammal, bird and plant populations. Peter taught Aldo Leopold’s Introduction to Wildlife Ecology at UW-Madison from 1991-1999 and is now Forest Renewal Chair in Conservation in UBC’s Faculty of Forestry.
Peter has mentored more than 30 people who are now teaching in 8 countries, authored over 200 academic papers and books and served as Board Chair of Nature Trust British Columbia. He also served 2 terms on COSEWIC’s sub-committee on birds, and led many workshops on adaptive management, conservation planning, long-term monitoring of plants and animals, and private finance in conservation.
Peter is native to the Pacific Northwest and is deeply familiar with the ecology of marine and terrestrial systems, and the roles of Indigenous Peoples in their stewardship.
Tara Shea (she/her)
Senior Director, Regulatory and Indigenous Affairs, Mining Association of Canada
Joining the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) in 2010, Tara Shea leads the association’s policy work related to Indigenous engagement, wildlife management and biodiversity conservation. She is passionate about responsible mining practices and has several years' experience working with mining companies, Indigenous organizations and stakeholders on the development and implementation of the mining sector’s Towards Sustainable Mining program.
Recognizing the important contribution that the land trust sector makes to conserving biodiversity across the country, Tara joined the Centre for Land Conservation’s Board of Directors to apply her experience implementing an assurance process for responsible mining standards to the development of a performance assurance program for the Canadian Land Trust Standards and Practices.
Tim Sopuck (he/him)
Chair, Governance, Nominating and Human Resource Committee
Tim Sopuck has spent over four decades implementing natural area conservation programs, primarily on private land in Canada’s prairie region. He worked with the Manitoba Habitat Heritage Corporation (MHHC) for three decades and was its Chief Executive Officer for 12 years. MHHC is an ENGO with over 91,000 hectares of owned lands and perpetual easements in Manitoba. Sopuck also had a lead role in creating the Corporation’s Conservation and GROW Trust granting programs, which now provide $10 million annually to other organizations for natural areas conservation. He retired from MHHC in 2022, but continues to be engaged with local, national and continental conservation initiatives.
Sopuck was a board member of the former Canadian Land Trust Alliance. His career experience with land trust organizations has helped him to appreciate CLC’s critical national roles for land trust-based conservation in Canada.
Todd D. Hall (he/him)
President, Environment and Risk Assurance Services Inc.
Todd Hall’s career has provided a wealth of experience in risk management, governance, and performance assurance with a focus on environment. Todd volunteers as a board and as a governance committee member with the Haliburton Highlands Land Trust.
Joining the Centre for Land Conservation as a board member was a natural evolution, particularly as it relates to the Performance Assurance Reporting program. His background with national and international standards organizations, certification programs, and management systems is a natural fit.
Sue Milburn-Hopwood (she/her)
Mentor and Board Member
Sue Milburn-Hopwood had a long career with the Government of Canada, advancing environmental conservation and protection at both Environment and Climate Change Canada and Health Canada. She was the Assistant Deputy Minister of the Canadian Wildlife Service between 2016 and 2020. During this time, she led its transformation into a modern conservation organization and developed the Government’s Nature Legacy agenda which placed a significant emphasis on the creation and management of protected areas in Canada and the protection of species at risk.
While Sue retired from full time work in 2021 she continues to mentor some of the next generation of public service managers. Sue joined the Board of Directors for the Centre for Land Conservation in 2022 as a way to further contribute to the advancement of the protection and stewardship of Canada’s natural environment.
Board committees
Performance assurance
The Performance Assurance Committee oversees the activities and strategic direction of the Performance Assurance program.
Chairman, Peter Arcese
Karen Cooper
Al Peatt
Todd Hall
Tara Shea
Nathalie Pratte
Lara Ellis (staff)
Lisa Freeze (Staff)
Bob McLean (Staff)
Audit and Financial Risk Committee
Chairman, Karen Cooper
Nathalie Pratte
Bob McLean
Governance, Nominating and Human Resources Committee
Chairman, Tim Sopuck
Karen Cooper
Sue Milburn-Hopwood
Nathalie Pratte