Dave Livermore
State Director, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Dave Livermore State Director for The Nature Conservancy in Utah © The Nature Conservancy
Areas of Expertise
conservation partnerships, philanthropy
Biography
Currently the Utah State Director, Dave Livermore is a 38-year veteran of TNC, having also worked as Great Basin Field Representative and Director of TNC’s Nevada conservation programs. During his career he has worked on numerous major conservation projects including helping to acquire over 10,000 acres of critical wetland and upland habitat on the eastern shore of the Great Salt Lake, assisting in the development and implementation of the Desert Tortoise Habitat Conservation Plan in Clark County, Nevada; purchasing water rights to benefit the Stillwater Wetlands near Fallon; helping to pass Question 5, a $47 million Nevada parks and wildlife bond issue; and raising over $6 million to acquire the 255,000 acre Dugout Ranch in San Juan County, Utah at the entrance to Canyonlands National Park.
Dave has also spearheaded five capital campaigns in Utah, which together have raised $166 million for conservation. All told, under Dave Livermore’s direction, TNC has completed over 189 conservation projects preserving more than one million acres of private and public land in Utah alone. In 2015, TNC’s CEO Mark Tercek presented Dave with the organization’s highest Conservation Award at the Senior Managers meeting in Mobile, Alabama.
Dave’s vision for Utah and beyond is best captured in a quote by Wallace Stegner, one of Dave’s favorite writers and a past TNC trustee. Stegner longed for a West “both prosperous and environmentally healthy, with a civilization to match its scenery.” Dave’s commitment to building relationships and finding common ground with diverse stakeholders statewide is a hallmark of his conservation work.
Dave received a BA from Williams College in 1977 and was awarded a Loeb Fellowship in Advanced Environmental Studies from Harvard University in 1995. In 2003 he received the Chevron Conservation Award for his land protection efforts in the Great Basin region. Before working for the Conservancy, Dave taught high school and worked as a wrangler and guide in southern Colorado and Jackson, Wyoming. He enjoys horseback riding, hiking, hunting, fishing and camping. Dave lives in Salt Lake City with his wife, Rebecca, and they enjoy visits from their daughter, Jennifer, who now lives in California.