Elaine York
West Desert Regional Director for Utah
Salt Lake City, UT
Elaine York West Desert Regional Director for Utah © TNC
Areas of Expertise
conservation, project leader, land acquisition
Biography
Elaine York, West Desert Regional Director for The Nature Conservancy in Utah, is based in Salt Lake City. She is the on-ground lead for their conservation work in western Utah, including biologically diverse Washington County.
In her 26 years with TNC, Elaine has led innovative projects in landscape planning, ecological modeling, and land acquisition in partnership with multiple state and federal government agencies and private landowners.
In 2008 she received the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Recovery Champion award for her work protecting rare plants in Washington County and in 2019 she and a number of partners received the Recovery Champion award for their work on behalf of the Utah prairie dog.
Elaine earned a Bachelor of Science (BS) in Anthropology and a Masters of Education (MEd) in Biological Education at the University of Utah.
In her free time, Elaine enjoys spending time with family and exploring the deserts, canyons, and mountains she is personally and professionally committed to protecting.