Valarie Bristol is a lawyer based in Austin who has had a varied career in conservation, serving as a Travis County Commissioner, Texas state director of the Trust for Public Land, as president of the Texas Land Trust Council, as director of external affairs for the Texas chapter of the Nature Conservancy, and as president of the Travis Audubon Society. In several different roles, she has played a key part in setting aside habitat to conserve the golden-cheeked warbler.