Introduction to Conservation Leadership

Brought to you through a partnership between the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF CONSERVATION LAW ENFORCEMENT CHIEFS and the USFWS

Program Overview

The goal of the Introduction to Conservation Leadership experience (ICL) is to prepare the next generation of conservation law enforcement officers to successfully carry out the conservation law enforcement mission in a rapidly changing world.

The ICL focus is to provide an educational experience on contemporary issues, challenges, future trends, adaptive leadership, self-awareness and other skills, knowledge, and abilities that will be key to success for those in conservation law enforcement leadership roles in the future.

 Specific Topics Include:

  • Adaptive Leadership

  • Enhancing Self-Awareness & Personal Leadership Capacity

  • Adaptive Challenges Facing the Profession

  • Officer Wellness

  • Strengthening Relationships and Networking

  • Applied Learning Project:

    An integral aspect of the learning experience involves participants working together on the challenges facing the profession applying what is learned in the academy. Participants will select an applied learning project on an adaptive challenge facing our profession/your agency and collectively work together to make progress on that challenge back in their respective agencies and throughout our profession.

Participant Testimonials

"Learned more from this course than from any other leadership course I have ever taken!"

"One of the best trainings I have ever attended. Training first-line supervisors in adaptive leadership, not just chiefs, will drive progress within natural resource agencies."

"This was the first leadership course that truly challenged me mentally—something that could not have been absorbed through reading alone."

Topics Covered

  • Adaptive Leadership

  • Enhancing Self-Awareness and Personal Leadership Capacity

  • Fitness, Stress Management, and Officer Wellness

  • Building Stronger Relationships and Professional Networks

Applied Learning Project

Participants will identify a contemporary adaptive challenge within their agency and apply academy concepts to make progress toward addressing it.

Eligibility Requirements:

  • Early to mid-career conservation law enforcement officers (typically with 5–10 years of experience)

  • Current field officers, supervisors, or program managers

  • Employed by a local, state, tribal, or federal conservation law enforcement agency

  • Endorsement from agency’s Chief Executive

Program Costs

  • $3,000 for agencies that are NACLEC members

  • $3,500 for non-member agencies

(Tuition includes all meals, lodging at NCTC, and instructional costs. Agencies are responsible for travel expenses.)
NACLEC will invoice agencies after participant acceptance. Payment is due by July 15, 2026.

Training Schedule

  • Dates: August 2–8, 2026 (including travel)

  • Location: National Conservation Training Center (NCTC), Shepherdstown, WV

    Located in the beautiful rolling hills of Shepherdstown, West Virginia, the National Conservation Training Center is a premier training facility that is perfectly fitted for creating a conservation learning atmosphere.   This training center is situated on 533 acres owned and managed by the USFWS. Find out more about NCTC by visiting http://nctc.fws.gov.

Asynchronous Learning Requirement

There is an online (asynchronous) learning component in the ICL experience. Participants will begin online learning activities 5-6 weeks prior to the residency beginning at the National Conservation Training Center. Online participation is a critical element in everyone’s academy learning experience. It provides a foundation for the academy experience. Completing online work will require an investment of roughly two hours per week in the 5-6 weeks prior to arriving at the academy.

Who can I call or write if I have more questions or need more information?

Randy Stark, NACLEC Executive Director

starkr@charter.net

608.332.0176

Apply now