Michael McDonald

Following an extensive, nationwide search, the board and staff of Arizona Land and Water Trust have announced long-time nonprofit leader Michael McDonald as the new executive director, effective Feb. 13.

“It is my honor to join the many other stalwart people affiliated with the trust, and collectively continue to catalyze the trust’s 45-year legacy of preserving Southern Arizona’s western landscapes, farms and ranches, wildlife habitat and the waters that sustain them to ultimately help our rural ecosystems, cultures and economies thrive and flourish,” McDonald said.

The former head of the Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona for eight years, McDonald most recently led the efforts of Tucson Audubon Society and was previously executive director of Habitat for Humanity Tucson. 

“Now more than ever in this era of climate adaptation, people of goodwill need to continue to come together with great resolve and ingenuity to conserve both this land we love and the precious water that gives life to all we cherish in this place called home,” he said.