Julie Shackelford

Julie joined The Conservation Fund in 2004 and as Texas Director, she is responsible for the Fund’s land conservation program in Texas, consisting of conservation real estate transactions and fundraising with state, federal and private partners statewide. Through acquisition and conservation easements, Julie has protected some of Texas’ most iconic landscapes. Since 2004, Julie has raised over $100 million from public and private sources to permanently conserve over 100,000 acres of land. Her work targets regions including the Big Thicket National Preserve and the Neches River, the Upper Texas coast at McFaddin and Anahuac national wildlife refuges, the Rio Grande Valley at Laguna Atascosa NWR, and state lands including Village Creek State Park, Powderhorn Ranch and the J.D. Murphree Wildlife Management Area.

In East Texas, she established the first designated Paddling Trail along the Neches River through the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department’s program. She was a recipient of the 2020 Terry Hershey Award for Texas Women in Conservation. Prior to coming to The Conservation Fund, Julie held positions with the American Farmland Trust’s Texas office and the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department. Julie holds a Master of Environmental Management degree from Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and a B.A. in Biology from Carleton College in Minnesota.

She lives in Nacogdoches, Texas, with her husband and two children. She is an avid birder and hiker and enjoys gardening with native plants.