Our Mission
To permanently protect and maintain the natural lands and waters of Greater Milwaukee.
Meet the
MALC Board
Linda Frank
President
Bio
Linda Frank is a retired lawyer with 20 years’ experience in trusts and estates and general law practice. She joined the MALC board in 2017 and assumed the presidency in 2019. Through various volunteer commitments, Linda advocates for climate action, sustainability and diverse and healthy ecosystems on land and water. She served on the Milwaukee Task Force on Climate & Economic Equity and continues to monitor plan implementation as a leader of Our Future Milwaukee Coalition. Linda engages with local advocacy and connection with nature through her service with the Sierra Club Wisconsin Chapter and regional Great Waters Group. She completed nine years with the Conservation Committee of the Village of Shorewood and played a key role in bringing a curbside organics collection program to that community. She credits scientists like Edward O Wilson, author Half-Earth, with inspiring and informing her work to save lands and natural lifeforms while we can.
Howard Aprill
Vice President
Bio
Howard Aprill is currently a Naturalist at Wehr Nature Center with the Milwaukee County Parks. He conducts environmental education and interpretation programs for all ages from pre-kindergarten through college. He has also served as a naturalist with the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, UW Extension, and at Denali National Park, Alaska. Howard was recognized for fostering a connection between people and natural places as the 2019 recipient of the coveted NAI Master Front-Line Interpreter Award. In his spare time, Howard has conducted fieldwork on the distribution of the state-threatened Butler’s Garter Snake in Wisconsin. He holds a BS from Michigan State University in Environmental Issues.
Ann Kaminski
Secretary
Bio
Ann has a bachelor’s degree in Business Management and Finance. Her work background includes doing bookkeeping for Sendik’s and working for an environmental service company handling liquid waste and industrial tank cleanings. Just recently, Ann took on a new job role at Rockwell Automation in the customer care department. Ann says her call to action to get more involved with conservation happened as she experienced agricultural land and parkland being taken away for undesirable development. She absolutely loves the outdoors and took advantage of it her entire life. Ann says she now realizes that it takes groups like MALC to make this possible.
Holden Snyder
Treasurer
Bio
Holden Snyder is a Senior Financial Analyst at S. C. Johnson & Son. He holds a BBA from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, majoring in Finance and Risk Management. During his college studies, or rather his many biking adventures he embarked on when he should have been studying, Holden became intimately familiar with the natural beauty of Wisconsin’s Driftless Area, west of Madison. Upon graduating, he vowed to use his financial skills to protect and preserve the Milwaukee Area landscapes he has called home for nearly his whole life.
Lawrence Leitner
Board member
Bio
Lawrence (‘Larry’) Leitner received his BA in Biological Sciences from Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY; his MA in Life Sciences from Indiana State University; and his PhD from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, concentrating in plant ecology. For 22 years he was Principal Biologist at the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission, where his duties included inventorying, identifying, and evaluating the best remaining areas of the natural landscape remaining in the SE Wisconsin region. He has collected over 7000 plant specimens from Wisconsin and elsewhere.
Our
Advisors
Kristen Wilhelm
Co-Founder/Advisor
Bio
Kristen Wilhelm is a founding member of the Milwaukee Area Land Conservancy (MALC), helping secure its 501(c)(3) status in 2002. She previously served as a board member and as MALC’s executive director, assisting with land acquisitions, including Carity Prairie, Fitzsimmons Woods, Sidney Woodland Preserve, and MALC’s first conservation easement. Kristen also served the City of Franklin for 23 years, including eight years on the Environmental Commission and 15 years as an alderwoman. She is happily retired and currently serves as an advisor to MALC.
Perry Rossa
Chief Stewardship
Advisor
Bio
Perry served on the MALC board while working as a water resources project scientist at Mead & Hunt and continued his service following retirement. While no longer a board member, Perry brings his considerable expertise and dedication to bear in providing stewardship oversight, advice and labor on all MALC preserves.
Dennis Grzezinski
Legal advisor
Steven Schmuki
Legal advisor
Kristin Schultheis
Stewardship Advisor
Paul Ryan
Stewardship Advisor
In Honor of Lorrie Otto, 1919-2010
Lorrie hosted MALC’s first meeting in her home and continued her support as a friend, advisors and member. Lorrie had broad influence in her environmental advocacy. As a crusader for alternatives to turf lawns, she earned the designation, “Godmother of Natural Landscaping.” She is credited with inspiring the creation of the Wild Ones, now a national organization promoting native landscapes through education, advocacy and collaborative action. In 1999, she was inducted into the WI Conservation Hall of Fame.
Get InvolvedIn Honor of Richard Barloga, 1940-2014
Richard Barloga was a co-founder of MALC, along with Kristen Wilhelm and Delene Hanson, and he served as MALC’s land manager. Richard was a well-known self-trained naturalist. Over the course of 40 years, he inventoried and retained detailed records of almost all remaining natural areas in Milwaukee County and several sites throughout the surrounding counties. He stressed the importance of designing a natural landscaping project around the appropriate “plant community.” Richard helped MALC protect Fitzsimmons Woods and assisted in acquiring community natural areas such as Franklin Scout Park, Deer Creek Sanctuary in New Berlin, Martins Woods in Franklin and the Eagle Prairie. Richard shared his knowledge and love of the natural world with his family and friends and frequently led hikes and gave presentations to groups, always imparting his spiritual connection with nature.
