Michele S. Byers, Executive Director

Michele joined the staff in 1982 as coordinator of our advocacy efforts in the Pine Barrens. She later assumed responsibility for coordinating the farmland preservation program and the Camden City greenway. She became Assistant Director in 1988 and helped found the Pinelands Preservation Alliance, Whitesbog Preservation Trust, Hunterdon Land Trust and New Jersey Highlands Coalition. She served on the Burlington County Agriculture Development Board for eleven years. In 1995 Michele was appointed by Governor Whitman to the State Planning Commission and was named Vice Chair in 1998. In 1999 Michele became Executive Director of NJCF. She served as Chair of New Jersey State Committee of the Highlands Coalition, Chair of New Jersey’s Freshwater Wetlands Mitigation Council, and a member of the New Jersey State Trail Council. In 2003, Michele was appointed by Governor McGreevey to the Highlands Task Force. More recently, Michele served as a board member of the Center for Non-Profit Corporations, and a member of The Hopewell Township, Mercer County Open Space Committee. She is now Vice Chair of the New Jersey Highlands Coalition, advisor to the Hunterdon Land Trust and Vice Chair of the newly-formed New Jersey League of Conservation Voters. Michele has a BA in Biology, Western State College, Gunnison, Colorado. She lives in Pottersville.

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