Statement on the Death of Our Longtime Leader, Dr. Brent Haglund

Dear Friends,

We are heartbroken to report that our longtime Sand County Foundation President & CEO, Dr. Brent Haglund, has died. Brent led the organization for more than 30 years, retired in 2021, and continued to serve on our board of directors.

To know Brent was to love him. A dedicated conservationist from a very young age who was greatly influenced by Aldo Leopold’s “A Sand County Almanac”, his never-ending intellectual curiosity about the natural world was a gift to us all.

Brent was a teacher at his core who was always willing to share his wide-ranging knowledge. His sharp wit and charm kept us laughing. We can’t think of him without smiling.

“Sand County Foundation would not be the national conservation organization it is today without Brent’s skillful and thoughtful leadership. He was my personal mentor and dear friend who will be deeply missed,” said Sand County Foundation’s Kevin McAleese.

Brent had countless professional accomplishments, but it is the relationships he built, the creative ideas he shared, and the example he set for all of us that are perhaps his most notable and lasting.

Read the full obituary here. 

Memorial gifts be made to Sand County Foundation's Haglund Ecology Fund.