John v.H. Halsey is founder and President of the Peconic Land Trust, a nonprofit land conservation organization serving Long Island. The Trust’s professional staff identifies and implements alternatives to development that result in the perpetual protection of working farms and natural lands on Long Island. Since it was founded in 1983, the Trust has completed more than 400 projects. In partnership with landowners, communities, municipalities, and like-minded organizations, the Trust has protected over 10,000 acres. In addition to NALT, Mr. Halsey serves on the boards of Nassau Land Trust, South Fork Land Foundation, and the Southampton Youth Association. He is former Chair of the Land Trust Alliance/New York Advisory Board, and board member emeritus of the Long Island Community Foundation. Mr. Halsey earned a B.A. from Dartmouth College and a M.S.W. from the University of California, Berkeley.
Andrew L. Johnson, President
Mr. Johnson, President of North American Land Trust, has a diversity of conservation and nonprofit management experience. Before forming Conservation Advisors in 1988 and establishing North American Land Trust in 1992, he was President and Executive Director of Natural Lands Trust in Media, PA, recognized as one of the largest and most innovative conservation organizations in the country. Mr. Johnson previously served as Executive Director of the Brandywine Conservancy and its Brandywine River Museum during the formative period. Mr. Johnson is a graduate of Grinnell College and received his M.F.S. from Yale University.
J. Paul Haldeman, Vice President and Treasurer
Mr. Haldeman served as the Business Manager of Conservation Advisors and the North American Land Trust from 1994 until 2004. In October 2004, Mr. Haldeman was appointed Vice President of North American Land Trust and presently serves as treasurer. In addition, he serves as board member and treasurer of the Chadds Ford Historical Society, board member and treasurer of the Brandywine Valley Hemophilia Foundation and serves as Chairman of the Pocopson Township Open Space Advisory Committee.
E. Blair McCaslin
Mr. McCaslin was a member of the Town of Southampton Planning Board for 23 years. He has been on the board of the Peconic Land Trust since 1991 and currently serves as board chairman emeritus. Mr. McCaslin spent thirty-one years as a Vice President of Chase Manhattan Bank serving for three years as CEO of Chase Manhattan Bank of Long Island. For ten years he was a faculty member at the American Institute of Banking in New York City.
Charles R. Perry
Mr. Perry is a principal in Pine Street Partners, a real estate advisory and transaction firm operating nationwide out of Atlanta, Georgia. After receiving a BA in English from the University of Florida and a J.D. from Duke University Law School, he has been involved in the analysis, financing, development and sale of numerous mixed-use commercial, residential, and resort projects over the past 25 years.
John D. Snook
Mr. Snook serves as Senior Advisor on the staff of the Brandywine Conservancy’s Environmental Management Center and has extensive experience in working with local governments, landowners and developers in preserving open space through innovative site planning and design efforts. Mr. Snook makes frequent presentations to a broad range of audiences interested in community planning issues and also serves on occasion as an adjunct professor of land use planning at West Chester University, PA.
John Witherspoon
Mr. Witherspoon is managing director of Conservation Advisors of North Carolina, a consulting group in Brevard, North Carolina, which works with landowners in the evaluation and implementation of conservation strategies. Mr. Witherspoon’s work with North American Land Trust began in 1997 during his management of Richland Ridge, an innovative conservation-based community, which has become a model for similar projects in the region, and whose success resulted from a partnership between a conservation investor group and North American Land Trust. Mr. Witherspoon’s expertise ranges from conservation easements and their tax benefits to planning and ownership issues.
Additional Officers
George Asimos, Jr., Esquire, Secretary
A partner with the firm of Saul, Ewing LLP; Mr. Asimos has practiced real estate and land use law for 25 years. He has represented North American Land Trust since its founding. Mr. Asimos has drafted or supervised the drafting of most of North American Land Trust’s more than 300 conservation easements. He is a regular presenter at seminars and conferences on the subject of conservation easements and conservation planning in the context of development.
Jamie McVickar, Assistant Secretary and Assistant Treasurer
Mr. McVickar was hired as the Controller for North American Land Trust in April 2002, and has been the assistant secretary since September of 2002. He has over 20 years of experience in small business management. In 1982, Mr. McVickar bicycled close to 5000 miles across the United States to raise money for a home for developmentally disabled children. He also served as statistician on the Philadelphia Flyers broadcasts for more than 20 years.
