Traci Burnsed

Traci Burnsed serves as a Realty Specialist at American Farmland Trust, where she is part of an AFT team increasing the capacity of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) to advance agricultural conservation easement acquisitions. She brings more than 10 years of experience in title examination and geospatial land-records management across county and municipal government, as well as hands-on leadership managing easement acquisitions for a regional land trust.

Most recently, she has worked nationally as an independent contractor supporting a startup focused on rewilding soil fungal biodiversity to increase timber growth. Raised on small horse and beef cattle operations in Michigan, Traci developed an early connection to working lands and conservation. That path led her to Bolivia where she served in the Peace Corps as a Natural Resources Management volunteer. After returning to the United States, she continued working at the intersection of landscapes and communities in Michigan, Georgia, Illinois, and New Mexico through roles in state and national parks, outdoor education centers, community groups, local governments, non-profits, public benefit corporations, and in wildland fire as a fire tower lookout.

She holds an M.S. in Recreation, Park, and Tourism Administration from Western Illinois University, a professional certification in Community Economic Development as a Peace Corps Fellow through the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs, and a certificate in GIS and Geospatial Technology from UCLA. Ultimately landing in New Mexico, Traci lives in Las Cruces with her husband and son at the foot of the Organ Mountains.