Michael Scisco | Conservation Director

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michael sciscoMichael is a trusted expert contractor that manages our land conservation program. He has spent over 15 years in the non-profit land conservation industry with another 10 years working as a consultant to private landowners for conservation and natural resource management strategies.

Michael is a licensed real estate professional with over 12 years’ experience transacting farm, ranch, and conservation lands. In addition to his work in land conservation and real estate, he also has nearly 20 years’ experience in geospatial technologies with an emphasis on land and community planning. He has worked to conserve directly and in partnership over 200,000 acres of land in Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Alabama, South Carolina, Tennessee, Kentucky, and North Carolina.

Michael has direct experience in conservation funding and planning for parks, greenspaces, green infrastructure, residential developments, large estate properties, and landscape scale conservation efforts. Through his conservation work, he has secured well over $200M in funding for conservation and transacted over $500M in land and other real estate. Through his geospatial work, he has produced thousands of mapping and design assets over his professional career. Michael focuses on creating information that is accurate, effective, and useful over time and is inspired by developing content and tools that enable people to become more engaged and informed. Examples include helping design green infrastructure planning for the Hill Country of Texas and discovering affordable housing opportunities in Los Angeles County.

Michael also gives back to his community and currently serves as Treasurer on the Board of Directors for the New Mexico Land Conservancy and is a Board Member of the City of Albuquerque Open Space Advisory Board.

Michael received a Graduate Certificate in GIS from Portland State University in Portland, Oregon and a B.S. in Environmental Science from Western Washington University, Huxley College of the Environment in Bellingham, Washington. Michael also holds a second-degree black belt in Shoshin Ryu Martial arts and is an avid tennis player. Michael hails from rural Arizona and Eastern Washington State.  He and his wife currently live in beautiful Albuquerque, New Mexico.

natural capital land conservation easements

Sam Warnock, December 2024

Building Natural Capital Through Conservation Easements: A Lasting Legacy

At Unique Places to Save, we work with landowners and communities to conserve land and aquatic resources with ecological, cultural, and economic value. One of the primary tools we use to achieve this is the conservation easement. A conserva...

headwaters river ecology conservation

Christine Pickens, November 2024

At The Headwaters: Part One on River Ecology & Conservation

This blog post is the first of a three part series on River Ecology & Conservation by Christine Pickens, PhD. At Unique Places to Save, we put a special emphasis on protecting aquatic resources. One of the most prominent aquatic resource fe...

upper rocky conservation mitigation lake cornelius charlotte nc

Michael Scisco, November 2024

Upper Rocky Mitigation Bank

Total Acres 44 Project Year 2020 Located near Charlotte NC The Upper Rocky restoration project restored and enhanced over 16 acres of wetlands and 8,000 linear feet of stream in an area experiencing increased suburban development pressure. ...

health benefits of outdoor recreation

Mandi Taylor, November 2024

Nurtured by Nature: Why Outdoor Recreation Matters

While the benefits of being outdoors–such as soaking up vitamin D, boosting your mood, and getting more exercise–has always been emphasized, the COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted the need for recreational activities and social interacti...