A Legacy of Leadership and Lifelong Commitment to Conservation: Jon Nestor
Excerpt From the Spring 2026 MDF Magazine
Every conservation organization has people who show up when it counts. The kind who work quietly, season after season, without needing recognition. For the Mule Deer Foundation in Colorado, that person is Jon Nestor.
For more than 25 years, including the past 16 as Colorado State Chair, Jon has helped shape MDF’s presence and impact across the state. His leadership has never been about titles or credit. It has been about building strong chapters, running successful fundraising events, and making sure the work gets done on the ground for mule deer and the habitat they depend on.
Jon’s fingerprints are on habitat projects throughout Colorado. From restoring critical winter range to removing obsolete fencing, installing water developments, and improving riparian areas, his efforts have directly benefited mule deer and a wide range of wildlife species. Many of these projects were made possible through funds raised at MDF banquets and events Jon helped organize and lead. He sees fundraising as the means to get conservation work done, not the end goal.
Just as important as the projects themselves is how they come together. Over the years, Jon has built strong, trusted relationships with MDF staff, Colorado Parks and Wildlife biologists, land managers, and volunteers across the state. Those relationships have helped position the Mule Deer Foundation as a reliable partner and leader in Colorado’s conservation community, one that agencies and land managers know they can count on to deliver results.
That steady leadership has also helped MDF navigate change. During periods of staff transition, Jon stepped up to support local chapters, keep fundraising events running, and ensure habitat projects stayed on track. His willingness to take on extra responsibility helped maintain momentum and gave both volunteers and staff confidence that MDF’s work in Colorado would continue.
Jon’s commitment to conservation extends well beyond MDF. For more than two decades, he has organized and taught hunter education classes in partnership with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, helping introduce new hunters to ethical, responsible hunting. Hundreds of students have learned not just the mechanics of hunting, but the responsibility that comes with it, respect for wildlife, care for the land, and an understanding that conservation is a lifelong commitment.
He has also served on numerous CPW boards and committees, including the Habitat Stamp Committee, where his experience has helped guide decisions that shape habitat conservation across Colorado. His input has helped influence how conservation dollars are spent and where they can do the most good on the landscape.
For Jon, conservation is a family affair. Alongside his wife Joan, he has involved his children and now grandchildren in MDF events and habitat projects. By making it a shared experience, Jon has inspired other families to get involved, strengthening MDF’s volunteer base and passing on a stewardship ethic that will carry on for generations through his own family and the many others he has influenced.
In 2012, Jon received the Maggie Justice Conservation Legacy Award, one of MDF’s highest honors. For those who know Jon, the recognition simply confirmed what they already understood. His leadership, vision, and quiet determination have shaped MDF’s presence in Colorado in ways that will last for generations. From mentoring volunteers to building strong partnerships with agencies and communities, his impact runs deep, and it continues to grow with every new project, volunteer, and family he inspires to carry the work forward.
Jon Nestor’s legacy lives in Colorado’s mule deer country. It can be seen in the habitat he’s helped improve, the mule deer herds that benefit, the relationships he’s built, and the generations of conservationists he’s inspired. Thanks to volunteers like Jon, the future of Colorado’s mule deer remains something worth believing in.
