Bernie McHugh

In 1996, Bernie took himself out of company operations at W.J. Grosvenor & Co so he could expand his volunteer land & wildlife conservation work. While he remains fully engaged with WJG in strategic planning and financial oversight, his passion remains in promoting conservation projects here and in the Mountain West. Many remember that, in 1999 Bernie made a proposal to the MLTC Steering Committee to serve as its unpaid Coordinator for 18 months to develop communications, outreach and funding mechanisms for it. Bernie’s ‘temporary job’ as MLTC Coordinator ended 12 years later when he stepped down and moved to Jackson Hole, WY to help protect the most intact ecosystem in the Lower 48. Bernie’s conservation efforts are dedicated to the preservation and protection of wildlife and wilderness with appreciation for land conservation as a principal tool. Bernie grew up in Watertown where ‘Silent Spring’ and the effects of environmental poisoning were real. In 1984 he saw his first Wood Duck, which led him into the dark underworld of birdwatching (637 North American species and counting). Bernie has a B.A. in Communications from the Univ. of New Hampshire.