Mary Johnson
Mary H. Johnson, a veteran of banking and commercial real estate, was named chairwoman of the board of trustees of The Nature Conservancy in Tennessee. Ms. Johnson is a longtime board member for the nonprofit conservation organization’s Tennessee Chapter, having served from 2002 to 2011 and then again, starting in 2013. She also served as chairwoman of a successful capital campaign that raised $14 million for the organization’s Tennessee conservation priorities and which concluded in 2007.
After an early career in banking, Ms. Johnson moved into commercial real estate, founding Land Partners LLC, based in Bristol, where she continues to work today. An avid outdoorswoman, she hikes, paddles kayaks, skis cross country and fly fishes in mountain streams. In addition to being a board member for The Nature Conservancy in Tennessee, she has also served on the boards of the Friends of the Smokies and the National Parks Conservation Association and on the State of Tennessee’s Conservation Commission.
“The Tennessee Chapter’s record of success with landscape preservation is impressive,” she said. “Even more so is the its ability to embrace new ways of thinking and doing business that put human health and well-being hand in hand with the state of our planet.”
The Nature Conservancy has protected more than 300,000 acres in Tennessee—an area comparable to 372 New York City Central Parks. Along the way, the Conservancy has created or expanded 29 State Natural Areas, 12 State Wildlife Management Areas and 2 National Wildlife Refuges. The Nature Conservancy has also protected iconic Tennessee sites such as the Walls of Jericho, Savage Gulf, Radnor Lake, Roan Mountain, the North Cumberland Wildlife Management Area, the Tennessee River Gorge, Pogue Creek Canyon and the Lower Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge.