Maggie Hanna Tribute - Colorado Cattlemen's Agricultural Land Trust

January 16, 2024

Have you ever worked with someone who truly represents the essence and spirit of an organization, personifying conservation, working lands, land stewardship, excellence, and innovation? For the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust (CCALT), that person is Maggie Hanna.

Working lands conservation has always been in Maggie’s blood. She grew up on her family’s conserved ranch on Colorado’s eastern plains. Today, she runs the family’s cattle operation. Her father, Kirk Hanna, helped establish CCALT in 1995, and it was destiny that brought his daughter to CCALT as an intern in the summer of 2013. Maggie rejoined CCALT in 2015 when she was hired as the external relations coordinator. Since joining the CCALT staff, Maggie has occupied nearly every position within the organization, culminating with her promotion to director of external relations in 2020. Maggie Hanna knows nearly every landowner, every partner, every supporter, and every friend of CCALT, and vice-versa; everyone knows Maggie Hanna.

“What strikes me most about Maggie is her drive. She possesses a rare blend of enthusiasm and determination that has made her an invaluable member of the CCALT team from the very beginning,” Erik Glenn, executive director of CCALT said. “Her loyalty to the cause and to the team is unwavering, even in the most challenging times. In sum, Maggie is the embodiment of CCALT.”

Maggie is widely known for her charismatic leadership. After spending a decade with CCALT, Maggie Hanna is moving on to become director of the Central Grasslands Roadmap Initiative for the Bird Conservancy of the Rockies. Her boundless passion for ranching and protecting grasslands will now expand beyond Colorado to all of North America. In her new role, Maggie will work tirelessly to bring attention to the ecological significance and beauty of grasslands and the important role that grazing plays in grassland health. We will miss her as a colleague and friend, but we know she has always been destined to make contributions on a much bigger stage. Maggie, see you later, take care now, until we meet again.

Maggie Hanna’s CCALT Professional Highlights

During Maggie’s decade with CCALT, our nonprofit organization partnered with more than 100 Colorado farming and ranching families to conserve 234,600 acres of productive agricultural land, open space, and habitat. Below are just a few of the impressive successes that Maggie personally led at CCALT:

As director of external relations, she led a dedicated team that helped to increase CCALT’s unrestricted individual donor fundraising by 170%.
She helped grow CCALTs External Relations Department to a five-person team.
She managed nine conservation easement transactions that conserved 44,963 acres across 10 counties.