The new executive director of the Westmoreland Land Trust brings a love of nature and extensive experience to a nonprofit organization that has helped preserve about 700 acres in the county.
“I really connected to the trust’s mission of protecting and preserving land in Westmoreland County and making it accessible to the public,” said Leanna Bird, 39, of Upper Yoder, Cambria County. She said she loves hiking in the Laurel Highlands and exploring nature with her two young sons.
Bird took over leadership Dec. 1 of the Unity-based nonprofit. The organization focuses on preserving natural landscapes, protecting wildlife habitats and watersheds and making land accessible through hiking trails and nature programs.
Bird, a Plum native, brings more than 10 years of experience in nonprofit management, program development, grant writing and fundraising for environmental and public health organizations in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
Bird takes the helm of an important conservation organization, said Robert Cronauer, district manager for the Westmoreland Conservation District and a member of the land trust board.
“It fills the niche to preserve land in Westmoreland County,” Cronauer said. That niche exists between privately owned property and government-owned land.
The land trust gives property owners a choice between protecting their property for conservation or selling it for development.
“It’s a way for a landowner to get compensated for land they no longer want but want to be preserved in perpetuity,” Cronauer said.
The trust, headquartered at the St. Xavier Nature Preserve west of Saint Vincent College, hired Bird after a five-month national search for a successor to Betsy Aiken, who led the organization from 2017 to 2025.
“The Land Trust is at an exciting period of growth, expanding the possibility of protected land, public access and strong community partnerships. I want to build on the momentum,” Bird said. She added that she wants to increase public knowledge of the trust and its mission.
Projects the trust has been involved in include:
• Expanding Duff Park in Murrysville;
• Creating a wildflower meadow at Twin Lakes Park in Hempfield; and
• Acquiring the 350-acre St. Xavier Nature Preserve and the 96-acre Carl A. Schwarz Memorial/Meadowlark Nature and Art Park in Hempfield.
The land trust works with anyone who wants to protect their land in perpetuity, walking them through the process, Bird said.
“Protecting land is a priority,” Bird said.
Bird became interested in conservation while a student at the University of Pittsburgh. She started her career with the Student Conservation Association, a national nonprofit dedicated to building the next generation of conservation leaders, where she coordinated youth conservation and trail restoration programs in Allegheny County parks.
She recalled spending part of a summer in Alaska doing conservation work before winter set in.
Bird said she looks forward to growing the trust’s mission to preserve and protect land in a county that “is really unique with beautiful and diverse landscape, along with a rich natural and historic heritage.”
Westmoreland Land Trust
• Founded in 2017
• Based at St. Xavier Naturea Preserve in Unity
• Has permanently protected more than 700 acres of land through donations and purchases
• Worked with municipalities, conservation agencies, community organizations and residents in land preservation
• Protected 350-acre St. Xavier Nature Preserve in Unity, the Otto & Magdalene Ackermann Nature Preserve in North Huntingdon, the Meadowlark Nature and Art Park in Hempfield, wildflower meadow at Twin Lakes Meadow in Hempfield and scenic landscapes along Westmoreland Heritage Trail near Sara Steele Trailhead near Slickville.
Source: Westmoreland Land Trust