Meet Ole Amundsen

Like any good planner, Ole Amundsen knows his way around posters, mapping software, reports as thick as phone books—deliverables of many kinds. But what Amundsen plans is something unique: connections.

A strategic conservation program manager at The Conservation Fund, Amundsen works with communities to translate their priorities—a favorite forest, walkable neighborhoods, native wildlife—into practical plans for a “green infrastructure” that connects all these features. He arms communities with a map of what matters, so that local leaders can make planning decisions without compromising quality of life. As he puts it, “We help communities take charge of their future.”

In east Texas, for instance, Amundsen recently brought together Angelina County leaders and area U.S. Forest Service staff for the first time, resulting in plans to raise funds for upgrading forest facilities that attract tourists. In Indianapolis, he’s working with the Central Indiana Land Trust to knit conservation priorities together across nine counties. And at an even bigger scale, he and Fund colleagues are crafting a conservation plan to mitigate for energy pipeline impacts on wildlife across 14 states.

Conservationists have gotten good at identifying places to save, Amundsen says, but still need more expertise in connecting them thoughtfully: “That’s what we provide. We can say, these are your important areas for wildlife, and here’s how the animals move from one forest block to another. If we connect the blocks, you can often use these lands for recreation.”

Amundsen knows a thing or two about the importance of connections. As a child, his family lived “off the grid” in Vermont on private property in the middle of Calvin Coolidge State Forest. Their small farm, three miles down a dirt road, was ideal for a kid who loved the outdoors. But when Amundsen was 8 years old, his parents reluctantly sold the property for financial reasons and moved to more conventional Hanover, New Hampshire, where 3rd graders took violin lessons and already dreamed about college. The culture shock hit hard.

It was much later, while working at the Environmental Protection Agency, that Amundsen stumbled across the land trust community—and a connection was made. Conservation offered landowners choices, and he wanted to be part of that. He enrolled at Massachusetts Institute of Technology for a graduate degree in land use planning. Then he worked for a regional land trust, followed by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and, finally, as a consultant for land trusts nationwide before joining the Fund in 2007.

Today, Amundsen works from his home in Ithaca, New York, on a one-acre property graced with old apple trees, a coursing stream and visitors like turkeys, cedar waxwings and scarlet tanagers. His office window looks out on the 500-acre forest next door—an inviting canopy that he, his wife and two daughters enjoy exploring. “My kids have some of those experiences I had growing up,” he says with satisfaction. And that’s perhaps the best connection of all.