Press Release

Media Contacts:

Kristine Krause, Board Chair, or Mark LaBarbera, Vice Chair

Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin

PHONE:  414-403-1563 (Kris) or 520-730-9252 (Mark)

EMAIL: kmkrause12@gmail.com (Kris) or mlabarbera57@icloud.com (Mark)

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Madison, WI
December 1, 2020

Natural Resources Foundation Elects Mark LaBarbera Chair

The Board of Directors of the charitable non-profit Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin elected new officers for 2021-22 at its November 19 virtual meeting.

The Board chose Mark LaBarbera of Hazel Green as its new Chairman effective January 1.

LaBarbera served as Treasurer before moving to Vice Chair with outgoing Chair Kristine Krause of Rhinelander, under whose term NRF hired new Executive Director David Clutter, completed a $1.1 million Evergreen Fund endowment campaign and finalized its strategic plan for the future.

NRF outgoing Chair Kristine Krause with Vice-Chair Mark LaBarbera on the Mississippi

The NRF Board approved a new slate of officers with Treasurer Tom Dott of Madison moving to Vice Chair, Finance Committee Chair David Adams of Franklin moving to Treasurer and continuing to run the Finance Committee, and Rebecca Haefner of Wauwatosa continuing as Board Secretary.

“Thanks to Chair Kris Krause, the board and professional staff, the NRF is positioned well to help address the natural resources challenges facing all of us who cherish Wisconsin’s great outdoors,” said LaBarbera, longtime national conservation leader and media executive who years ago set up NRF’s first outdoor sports education fund.

Located in Madison, Wisconsin, the Foundation is a nonprofit 501c3 that was formed in 1986 as declining budgets severely compromised critical programs of Wisconsin’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR). With the support of its donors and members, the Natural Resources Foundation of Wisconsin has boosted private sector investment and involvement for Wisconsin’s lands, waters and wildlife. Its Wisconsin Conservation Endowment includes more than 100 funds valued at approximately $8.8 million.

After more than 30 years, the Foundation still serves this role and fills an important and unique conservation funding niche that no other organization does. The Foundation embraces the power of public-private partnerships. It recovers species from the brink of extinction. And it continues to bring substantial financial resources and attention to priority projects of the DNR and other conservation partners. The Foundation also provides sustainable funding for Wisconsin’s most imperiled species and ecosystems, while helping citizens explore, care for, and protect Wisconsin’s natural resources.

The Foundation works to protect Wisconsin’s natural heritage by supporting critical conservation work through its grant programs, offering opportunities for people to experience Wisconsin’s outdoors through its trips, and providing a means for people to help protect Wisconsin’s lands, waters, and wildlife that they cherish most, through its diverse ways to give. For more information, visit wisconservation.org.

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Shelly Torkelson

Shelly Torkelson

Director of Communications

(608) 409-3113
Shelly.Torkelson@WisConservation.org

Shelly Torkelson (she/her) oversees the Foundation's strategic communications, public relations, and marketing. She tells our stories of positive impact on the land, broadens awareness of our programs, and creates connections with key audiences.