Experience: Zeb is serving as the the inagural chairman of the Legacy Conservation Trust. He retired in 2021 as first Executive Director of the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves (OKNP) after three decades with state and local government agencies. At the time of his retirement he was Chairman of the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund Board (KHLCF) after serving as its Program Coordinator for many years, as well as a member of the first Imperiled Bat Conservation Fund Review Team for the US Fish and Wildlife Service. In addition to OKNP, during his career he also worked for Kentucky State Parks, Kentucky Fish and Wildlife, Raven Run Nature Sanctuary, the University of Kentucky Biology and Forestry Departments, and Bernheim Forest. Along with fellow board member Zack Couch, Zeb received an EMMY award as producer of "Kentucky Naturally", a PBS special on lands preserved by the KHLCF. He was additionally nominated for "The Nature of History", a PBS special featuring significant historic sites that also protect endangered species populations. He is currently an independent consultant with the Kentucky Land Trusts Coalition and the KHLCF, assisting conservation organizations, agencies, and private landowners working together to conserve natural lands. He also serves on the boards of the Kentucky Natural Lands Trust, Bernheim Forest and Arboretum, and the Midway History Museum.

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Education: BS in Zoology/BA in American History, MA in History (Environmental Policy), MS in Forestry (Conservation Biology), all from University of Kentucky. He has also been certified as a Certified Wildlife Biologist, Certified Fire Ecologist, and Certified Burn Boss.

Experience: A lifelong resident of Kentucky's upper Green River region, Richie had post-graduate experience working for Mammoth Cave National Park, Land Between the Lakes, and Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources.  In 1995 he joined Campbellsville University as Assistant Professor of Biology.  He then joined The Nature Conservancy as the Green River Bioreserve Project Director working with various local, state and federal partners, as well as many private landowners, to protect the rich natural heritage of the upper Green River in Kentucky.  Currently he is Environmental Science Lead Professor and Program Coordinator at CU.  Richie enjoys mentoring students incorporating a legacy of conservation action in his courses. He enjoys studying stream fish ecology, birding, hiking, traveling and reading.  He also stewards his family farm participating in numerous conservation efforts including CREP, EQUIP, CLEAR30 and conservation easements.  Richie was a founding member of the Friends of Mammoth Cave Board established in 2007 and has served on the boards of Kentucky Waterways Alliance, Clay Hill Memorial Forest and the Kentucky Heritage Land Conservation Fund (1996-2020) where he was Project Review Committee Chair for many years as well as Board Chair.  Richie joined the Bernheim Forest Board of Trustees in 2021 where he has served as Capital Assets Committee Chair and he served on the Imperiled Bat Conservation Fund Review Team for the USFWS.  Richie established the non-profit Forever Green, Inc. to enhance the awareness and education of the natural significance of Kentucky's Green River. 

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Education:  BS in Biology from Campbellsville University, MS Biology and PhD Environmental Biology from the University of Louisville.

Experience: Lee has over 37 years of professional conservation and management experience.  His first conservation job was as a contract biologist for The Nature Conservancy conducting rare vertebrate surveys on the Daniel Boone National Forest, Kentucky.  After completing graduate school, Lee was an environmental consultant for several years with firms in Florida and Georgia, where he conducted surveys for listed and at-risk species, performed wetland delineations and mitigation planning, and completed regulatory compliance documents for various clients across the southeastern US.  In 1994, he accepted a supervisory fish and wildlife biologist position with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) at Fort Benning, Georgia, where he oversaw a multidisciplinary staff working on listed and at-risk species surveys, interagency Endangered Species Act (ESA) compliance, and private lands habitat restoration activities in the Chattahoochee and Flint river watersheds.  During this time, he also accepted temporary assignments in the Office of Congressional Affairs in USFWS Headquarters and as the Habitat Conservation Planning coordinator in the Atlanta Regional Office.  Lee then served in the Atlanta Regional Office as coordinator of two ESA permitting programs and as the Regional Carbon Sequestration Coordinator, before ultimately moving to Kentucky in 2002 to lead the newly created Kentucky Ecological Services Field Office (KFO).  He oversaw the KFO until his retirement from public service in 2025.  During this period, the KFO grew its staff, served the public interest, and developed and supported a wide variety of partnerships that have continued past his tenure at the KFO.  Lee is a Certified Wildlife Biologist and owner of a small environmental consulting firm where he assists public, private, and non-profit clients.

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Education: BS in Fish and Wildlife Science and MS in Forestry, both from the University of Tennessee.

Experience: Zack has 25 years of experience in the conservation of rare species and habitats throughout the eastern United States. His career includes roles conducting endangered species surveys, conservation land acquisition and management for the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet, Kentucky Division of Water, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources, and the Office of Kentucky Nature Preserves. Additionally, Zack has spent several years as an environmental consultant throughout the eastern United States conducting surveys for federally listed bat species, and managing stream/wetland mitigation projects. 

Education: AS in Environmental Education and BS in Natural Resource Conservation and Management from the University of Kentucky, MS in Biology from Eastern Kentucky University. In addition to being a National Conservation Leadership Institute Fellow (Cohort 17) he has been a Certified Wildlife Biologist and Certified General Appraiser.