John Carlson
Northern Great Plains Initiative Director
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Biography
John Carlson is The Nature Conservancy’s new Northern Great Plains Initiative Director. He brings deep roots and experience in grassland and sagebrush conservation, initially beginning his conservation career with TNC’s Montana Natural Heritage Program. It was this program where he helped develop grassland conservation priority areas throughout the Northern Great Plains in the U.S. and Canada.
During his tenure at the Bureau of Land Management, John was instrumental in cross-border greater sage-grouse and pronghorn migration studies, among other important research projects. Most recently, he served as the Regional Grassland Conservation Coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, focusing on regional and international grassland conservation efforts. He also helped foster collaborative efforts between numerous agencies, including NRCS, USGS and NPS along with a wide variety of landowner led collaboratives, individual landowners and NGOs (e.g., Bird Conservancy of the Rockies, World Wildlife Fund and TNC). Separately, John has also had a parallel career as a Polar seabird biologist, nature tour guide and wildlife photographer.
The Northern Great Plains, with its more than 76 million acres of grassland habitat across five states (MT, ND, NE, SD & WY) and two Canadian provinces (AB & SK), represents the largest and most intact expanse of grassland habitat in North America. This region is home to diverse wildlife, 20 Indigenous tribes, and family-based agricultural operations that take pride in grassland stewardship. Conserving these globally significant grasslands has long been a priority for The Nature Conservancy.