THE KANSAS LAND TRUST TEAM

Staff

  • she/her
    kstanley@klt.org | (785) 749-3297

    As the Director of KLT, I get to work alongside our incredibly talented team to find ways to protect more land and connect more people to the land. While I have my hands in all aspects of our work here, one of the best parts about my job is getting to develop relationships with the diversity of people whose lives are interwoven with the places we protect.

    My favorite place in Kansas really depends on the season! In the winter months, I tend to gravitate more toward sandbars along the Kansas River. Public access is so hard to come by in Kansas and, as a navigable river, many sandbars on the Kaw are places people can readily enjoy and explore.

    I recently welcomed a new little human into my life who I get to explore Kansas alongside. My husband and I lovingly call our new addition Toadis because his name is Otis and his pouting face looks remarkably similar to a toad!

Executive Director

  • she/her
    jburton@klt.org | (785) 749-3297

    As KLT’s Director of Administration and Advancement, I support KLT's daily operations, financial sustainability, and advancement efforts, working closely with staff, board members, and partners to strengthen the organization’s long-term impact and stewardship of Kansas land.

    I am especially drawn to the connection between people, place, and long-term stewardship. I am fortunate that my favorite places in Kansas are the prairies and rangelands of Chase County that I call home. These wide-open spaces, working lands, and deep-rooted community ties reflect the values that drew me to the work of the Kansas Land Trust.

Director of Administration & Advancement

Board of Directors

  • Vice President and Board Member
    Director of the Bureau of Waste Management, KDHE

President

  • Board Member
    Secretary of Kansas Wildlife, Parks, and Tourism

Vice President

  • Treasurer and Board Member
    Landscape Designer

Treasurer

  • Secretary and Board Member
    Senior Scientist & Professor
    Kansas Biological Survey & KU Environmental Studies

Secretary

  • Board Member
    Professor Emeritus
    Washburn University School of Law

Board Member

  • Board Member
    Stinson Leonard Street, LLP

Board Member

  • President and Board Member
    Realtor
    Great Plains Land Co, LLC

Board Member

  • Board Member
    Founding Partner
    Bark Media

Board Member

  • Board Member
    Owner
    Sandhills Brewing, LLC

Board Member

  • Board Member
    Retired Real Estate Executive
    PNC Bank, N.A.

Board Member

  • Board Member
    Owner
    Juniper Hill Farms

Board Member

How We Got Here

The Kansas Land Trust works with voluntary landowners to protect prairies, preserving biodiversity, scenic landscapes, and wildlife habitat. Through this work, we conserve native stream banks, reducing flooding and protecting water downstream for recreation and drinking. We strive to expand public access to protected woodlands, streams, and prairies, enriching our connections to nature and each other. KLT protected spaces conserve agricultural lands, generating livelihoods for farm families and resilient local food systems.

The Kansas Land Trust vision grew out of a tragedy. Under the cover of darkness, the Elkins Prairie, a 70-acre prairie near Lawrence, Kansas, was plowed. After years of planning and organizing, KLT worked with the Kansas Legislature to authorize a legal framework to protect natural landscapes for future generations by working with voluntary landowners who value the natural heritage they steward. This led to KLT preserving the Akin Prairie in Douglas County under it’s first conservation easement in 1991.

Over the years, KLT has partnered with many supporters, landowners, Fort Riley’s Army Compatible Use Buffer program, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, Ducks Unlimited, local governments, and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to protect over 40,000 acres. Today our conservation footprint is similar to the size of Topeka spanning across 82 properties in 22 counties.

Where We’re Going

With a growing team and diversified partners, the Kansas Land Trust embarked on its first strategic Conservation Plan in 2024. This document is our compass that will guide the work ahead.

Strategic Conservation Plan

Quality of life, health, prosperity, and productivity arise from our connections to nature. They are rooted in access to healthy food, diverse habitats, healthy streams, clean air, and shared social relationships in nature. As we look forward we envision a future in Kansas where people enjoy our natural lands, clean air and water, access to public spaces, and flourishing livelihoods provided by sustainable connections to the land.

Over the years, the Kansas Land Trust has become an adaptive organization that effectively works with a broad range of landowners conserving diverse landscapes of all sizes.

As we approach nearly thirty five years of conservation experience, the Kansas Land Trust strives towards protecting more special places for future generations.