11-Year Trust for Public Land Veteran David Weinstein Named Organization’s Northern Rockies Program Director
Trust for Public Land (TPL) is pleased to announce the appointment of David Weinstein as the new Northern Rockies Program Director. In this role, Weinstein will lead TPL’s conservation initiatives across Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming, working to protect the region’s lands and waters, expand access to outdoor spaces, and enhance community resilience. A born and bred Westerner and Bozeman resident, Weinstein brings deep personal and professional experience to this role.
Over the past decade, Weinstein served as TPL’s Western Conservation Finance Director. In that capacity, he advised local and state governments throughout the Western United States on designing, passing, and implementing legislative initiatives and ballot measures to secure critical funding for land and water conservation. In the recent election cycle, 23 of 23 TPL supported ballot initiatives passed, generating over $16 billion in voter-approved public funding for parks, climate resilience projects, water quality, and wildlife and land conservation. Weinstein’s extensive experience in conservation policy, outdoor advocacy, and strategic public funding makes him an ideal fit to lead TPL’s work in the Northern Rockies.
“I live for this work. When I am not working to ensure people can enjoy nature, I am out there in it, exploring, recreating, reflecting, and soaking it in,” said Weinstein. “Doing what we love – from hiking to biking to fishing – on public lands is vital to our way of life in this region, and I look forward to collaborating with local partners to ensure that conservation remains a top priority.”
A longtime conservation advocate, Weinstein has an impressive track record shaping environmental policies and outdoor recreation initiatives. Prior to his time at TPL, he worked with the Outdoor Industry Association, former U.S. Senator Mark Udall (D-Colo.), and served on Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper’s first gubernatorial campaign. He also chaired the Board of Directors for the Montana Conservation Corps and the Alaska Wilderness League, as well as served on the Next Gen advisory board for the National Parks Conservation Association.
Weinstein’s top priorities include protection of and access to land and water in the greater Yellowstone ecosystem, opportunities for more people to connect to the outdoors and have more places to play and explore, recouping the health benefits of nature and collaborating with communities to proactively work with nature to safeguard against catastrophic wildfires, land conversions, and rampant population growth.
“David is a proven leader in the conservation space, with a strong track record of collaborating with communities across the West to articulate and bring to life their visions for connecting to the outdoors,” said Jim Petterson, Vice President of the Mountain West Region for Trust for Public Land. “His passion for the outdoors, deep policy expertise, and commitment to community-driven solutions will be invaluable as we work to secure the lands and waters that define the region and that are so integral to our Western way of life.”
From his home base in Bozeman, MT, David enjoys spending time in the outdoors as an avid backcountry skier, mountain biker, boater, angler, runner, backpacker, birder, and packrafter.
About Trust for Public Land
Trust for Public Land (TPL) is a national nonprofit that works to connect everyone to the benefits and joys of the outdoors. As a leader in equitable access to the outdoors, TPL works with communities to create parks and protect public land where they are needed most. Since 1972, TPL has protected more than 4 million acres of public land, created more than 5,504 parks, trails, schoolyards, and iconic outdoor places, raised $110 billion in public funding for parks and public lands, and connected nearly 9.7 million people to the outdoors. To learn more, visit tpl.org.
