Margaret E. Everson is a leader in conservation, natural resource management, and public lands policy, with senior level experience spanning government, nonprofit, and private sectors. She is the founder and principal of Mill Run Strategies, where she advises state agencies, nongovernmental organizations, foundations, and industry on balanced approaches to public lands access, energy development, conservation, recreation, and wildlife policy. 

Everson is the only individual to have led both the National Park Service (NPS) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS). In these roles, she oversaw large, complex federal organizations with combined budgets exceeding $6 billion and workforces of more than 27,000 employees. Her leadership focused on expanding public access, strengthening conservation outcomes, reducing regulatory burdens, and addressing long-standing infrastructure and deferred maintenance challenges across the federal lands system. During her tenure, more than 1.4 million acres of new and expanded access were created on public lands. She oversaw the establishment of the National Park Service’s Maintenance Action Teams and the expansion of Maintenance Action Teams at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to address critical infrastructure needs, alongside broader planning and investment frameworks to reduce systemic maintenance backlogs across the Bureaus.

A central component of Margaret’s federal leadership was her role in implementing the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA). She chaired the interagency task force overseeing nearly $2 billion annually for deferred maintenance across federal land management agencies and $900 million for the Land and Water Conservation Fund. At the National Park Service, she led development of the agency’s first business and strategic investment plan to responsibly manage an additional $1.2 billion in discretionary funding.

Everson has played a significant leadership role internationally in wildlife conservation and trade policy. In 2019, she served as the U.S. co-head of delegation to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) Conference of the Parties in Geneva, co-sponsoring multiple species protection proposals that were adopted. This experience continues to inform her advisory work at the intersection of conservation, international trade, enforcement, and regulatory compliance.

Prior to her federal executive service, Margaret served as Chief Policy Officer at Ducks Unlimited, where she led national conservation policy and government relations and helped guide a $2 billion capital campaign. She previously served as an Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Kentucky and held roles at the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works, focusing on Endangered Species Act implementation, wetlands restoration, wildlife trafficking, and public lands policy.

In addition to her professional work, Margaret has served on numerous national boards and advisory bodies, including the National Park Foundation, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, the Patuxent River Commission, the White House Historical Association, and as chair of the American Wildlife Conservation Partners. She is a frequent speaker and has testified before Congress on conservation, wildlife, and public lands issues. Margaret holds a Juris Doctor and a Bachelor of Science in Biology.