Katie Hess

Director of Pennsylvania Landscape Conservation, Director of South Mountain Partnership

Katie Hess is passionate about serving communities and groups by working with them to develop and implement solutions that are socially, environmentally, and economically sustainable. As Director of Pennsylvania Landscape Conservation, she creates new alignment between the Appalachian Trail Conservancy and communities in the larger landscape along the Appalachian National Scenic Trail. Katie accomplishes this through conservation that is based on social values and community self-determination rather than science alone, in addition to traditional conservation methods.

She also continues to serve as Director of South Mountain Partnership (SMP), one of Pennsylvania’s renowned Conservation Landscapes. In other words: she takes care of the land and communities along the Appalachian Trail in Pennsylvania. Katie ensures that different groups, like governments, schools, and nature and preservation groups work together to keep communities, animals, plants, and special places safe. This includes taking care of the land, like protecting forests and making maps to understand where to help the most. At SMP, Katie is much like a team captain that helps make sure people take care of the special parts of the South Mountain region, which include forests, farms, and fun outdoor places by hosting strategic meetings, helping manage people who work on projects, and making sure the land is taken care of for the future. Her work is all about protecting nature and special places and bringing people together to work as a team.

Katie’s degrees are in landscape/regional design and planning from Pennsylvania State University (Master of Landscape Architecture, 2012) and Environmental Science and Policy (2006) from Hood College. She joined the Partnership in August 2015 from the Pennsylvania State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO), the state agency that works to conserve Pennsylvania’s historic and cultural resources.