For more than four decades, Ray Ledgerwood has been a pillar of support for the National Conservation Partnership. During the NACD Annual meeting held in San Antonio earlier this month, he was recognized for his longtime commitment with the Rich Duesterhaus Lifetime Achievement Award – among the highest honors a member of our conservation family can receive.
Ledgerwood spent more than 20 years working for the Washington Conservation Commission, starting his journey as a field representative and eventually serving as a regional coordinator and facilitator. And he has facilitated NASCA’s State Ideas Sharing Session at the Annual Meeting since its inception in 2005.
Ledgerwood served NACD in a multitude of capacities over the years, including capacity building and strategic planning for numerous states and territories, and most recently developing the Next Generation Leadership Institute and facilitating strategic planning for the National Conservation Foundation.
During his six-year tenure as NACD’s Pacific Region Representative he was tapped by then-NACD President Clarence Durban to serve as an Advisor to a Special Committee on District Employees. That assignment ultimately paved the way for the formation of the National Conservation District Employees Association. When federal funding for the Resource Conservation and Development—or RC&D—program was eliminated in 2011, Ledgerwood served as a vital bridge for the National Association of RC&D Councils. He was instrumental in helping local councils navigate the transition into independent 501(c)(3) non-profits.
“Ray Ledgerwood’s lifetime achievement award reminds us that the conservation movement is built by people who show up year after year to support districts, partners, and communities,” NASCA President Ashley Henderson of Alabama said. “His enthusiastic approach and commitment to the partnership model have left a lasting mark on conservation nationwide, and we’re fortunate that Ray is a part of the NASCA family.”
The Rich Duesterhaus Lifetime Achievement Award was created in 2023 to recognize
those rare individuals whose entire body of work has left an indelible, lasting impact on
the entirety of the National Conservation Partnership.