🌲Meryl Harrell
nice to meet you

About Meryl

A collaborative leader and forest policy expert — and someone who genuinely can't wait for the next trailhead.

my story

People, policy, and place.

I'm a collaborative leader and forest policy expert with a track record of bringing people together to create meaningful, lasting change on our public lands.

Over more than two decades, my work has spanned government, nonprofits, and philanthropy — but it's always come back to the same idea: that when we build relationships and trust, we can share responsibility for the future of our forests and the well-being of the communities that depend on them.

Originally from New Jersey and now based in Atlanta, Georgia, you can most often find me out on the trails in our national forests with my husband and our two children — the best reminder of exactly what all this work is for.

Meryl smiling in a mountain wildflower meadow
what I'm doing now

Two hats, one mission.

🌲

Founder & Executive Director,
Friends of the Forest Service

I founded Friends of the Forest Service to foster collaboration, trust, and practical solutions that enhance forest and community resilience. We envision forests that thrive through collaborative stewardship — supporting ecological health, cultural vitality, and economic prosperity while strengthening the U.S. Forest Service and its network of partners.

Visit Friends of the Forest Service ↗

🧭

Independent Consultant,
Environmental & Public Lands Policy

Through my private consulting practice, I partner with government, philanthropic, industry, and nonprofit organizations on environmental and public lands policy. I help clients navigate complex challenges — from wildfire resilience and land management planning to outdoor recreation, watershed health, and collaborative governance — and turn shared goals into workable strategy.

the road here

A career on public lands.

Founder & Executive Director
Friends of the Forest Service

Building a nonprofit dedicated to collaboration, trust, and practical solutions for the future of our forests and the U.S. Forest Service.

Deputy Under Secretary for Natural Resources & Environment
U.S. Department of Agriculture

Led work across the USDA Forest Service on wildfire resilience, Tribal co-stewardship, land management planning, outdoor recreation, watershed health, and expanding access to Forest Service programs. Part of eight years in USDA's Office of Natural Resources and Environment, including as Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor to the Under Secretary.

Executive Director
Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards (SAWS)

Led a workforce-development nonprofit focused on public land stewardship — training and deploying crews to care for wilderness and wild places across the Southern Appalachians.

Public Lands Advocate
The Wilderness Society

Worked on public lands policy and protection in Washington, D.C.

Education
Yale Law School & Princeton University

J.D. from Yale Law School, with a focus on environmental law. A.B., magna cum laude, in geosciences and environmental studies from Princeton University.

Collaborative leadership Forest & public lands policy Wildfire resilience Tribal co-stewardship Land management planning Outdoor recreation Watershed health Nonprofit strategy
Meryl with her two children on a rock beneath snowy mountains
off the clock

My favorite trail crew.

When I'm not working, I'm usually outside — chasing wildflowers, scrambling up red rock, or introducing my two kids to the places that shaped me. The mountains have always been where I think best, and there's nothing I love more than sharing them with my family.

It's not a break from the work so much as the whole point of it: these are the wild places, and the next generation, that all of it is for.

let's work together

Let's build something that lasts.

Whether it's a policy puzzle, a coalition to convene, or a strategy to shape — I'd love to hear about it.

Get in Touch