Bob Bale

Bob Bale, The Nature Conservancy-Minnesota Fire in the Forest Program Manager and Indigenous Peoples Burning Network staff member.  (Board member since 2026) Bob manages a prescribed burn program in Northern Minnesota focused on agency and tribal partners’ success through cooperative training, planning, funding, operations, and public outreach.  Bob is an active staff member of the Indigenous Peoples Burning Network, fostering partnerships rooted in respect and trust with indigenous practitioners. As a TNC Coda Fellow, Bob was a guest of Tanzania National Parks to facilitate the completion of Serengeti National Parks’ fire management plan.  Bob was also asked to modify Tanzania National Parks’ fire management planning process which was subsequently adopted and applied to their remaining savanna national parks. Bob founded and scaled a conservation non-profit operating across 12 states and The Bahamas.  He led fundraising, donor cultivation, grant writing, and partnership building. Bob recruited a high-level Board of Directors, and sought to cultivate an organizational culture emphasizing equity, diversity, and High Reliability Organizing (HRO) principles. Bob serves on the steering committee of the Minnesota Prescribed Fire Council and has served as co-lead of the Minnesota Forests Fire Learning Network.  His professional education includes a M.A. in Geography and Planning from West Chester University and a B.A. in Political Science from Pennsylvania State University.