Bill ClaboughExecutive Director
Bill Clabough has spent his entire life in Blount County. A graduate of the Blount County School system and UT Knoxville, Bill spent 30 plus years in the retail grocery business in Blount County. In 2004 he was elected to the Tennessee General Assembly, serving 4 years in the Tennessee House and 6 years in the Tennessee Senate. He joined Foothills Land Conservancy in the spring of 2006 as the Executive Director with the charge to take the organization to the next level. Bill has put together a strong team that is moving Foothills Land Conservancy forward on land protection partnerships, land stewardship and community outreach. He has been involved in all project areas of Foothills. Through the course of overseeing the completion of many successful programs, Bill is always reminded that land protection is our business and our only business!
Elise EustaceOutreach Director
Elise Eustace joined the FLC team in 2009 and has over 20 years of experience in marketing, sales, client relations, event management, public speaking, and writing. She has a B.A. degree in Communications with a minor in Business from Southwestern University in Georgetown, TX.
As Outreach Director, Elise is responsible for connecting FLC to local and regional communities – raising the visibility of Foothills’ mission and programs through strategic partnerships, engagement events, and philanthropic initiatives. In addition to working at FLC, Elise has served on the City of Maryville’s Tree Board, the Smoky Mountain Planned Giving Council Board, and the Great Smoky Mountains Hiking Club Board of Directors. She is a graduate of the Experience Your Smokies Program and enjoys visiting the Great Smoky Mountains National Park and exploring other natural areas across the region.
Shelby Lyn SandersDirector of Natural Resources
Shelby Lyn Sanders joined the FLC staff in 2017. She is the Director of Natural Resources, working internally to oversee all aspects of land management as well as in the field, preparing baseline documentation reports and annual monitoring of conservation easement properties. Shelby graduated from the University of Tennessee – Knoxville in 2015, receiving a B.S. in Wildlife & Fisheries Science with a focus on management. An Oklahoma native, Shelby has called East Tennessee home since 2009. Her background includes working in both Tennessee and Kansas studying the ecology of grassland birds for UT’s Center for Native Grassland Management. Shelby Lyn also spent a year working for the Southern Research Station of the USDA Forest Service in conjunction with UT, where she assisted with the data collection for various projects assessing growth and competitiveness of upland hardwoods in the Southern Appalachian region.
Shelby is a whole-hearted native plant enthusiast and is involved in several local organizations and initiatives aimed at increasing awareness about the value and use of native plants in the landscape. In her free time, Shelby enjoys birding, botanizing, hiking, and watching any kind of racing, especially NASCAR.