Land Stewardship Manager

About the Open Land Trust

Open Land Trust is a nonprofit land conservation organization dedicated to protecting the Lowcountry’s working lands, natural habitats, and culturally significant landscapes through conservation easements and fee ownership. OLT currently stewards 113 conservation easements with 182 landowners and manages 49 conservation properties, totaling 38,287 acres across seven counties. We are a close knit, collaborative team that values trust, integrity, and long-term relationships with the landowners and communities we serve.

The Land Stewardship Manager plays a hands-on role at the heart of Open Land Trust’s stewardship mission. This position serves as a key steward of OLT’s protected lands and landowner relationships, helping ensure conservation commitments are honored on the ground and carried forward for future generations.

Position Description

The Land Stewardship Manager supports the long-term care of Open Land Trust’s protected lands by conducting annual monitoring visits, maintaining strong relationships with landowners, assisting with baseline documentation, responding to landowner requests and inquiries, and ensuring that stewardship records are complete, accurate, and compliant with Land Trust Accreditation Commission Standards & Practices. This role is central to OLT’s commitment to care for land in perpetuity and plays a key part in the organization’s strategic priorities to elevate stewardship capacity, strengthen systems, and support sustainable organizational growth.

The Land Stewardship Manager works closely with the Director of Conservation to implement a high-functioning stewardship program that reflects OLT’s values, mission, and long-term obligations.

Key Responsibilities

Annual Monitoring, Property Management, & Fieldwork

• Conduct annual monitoring visits for conservation easements and fee-owned properties using OLT protocols and LTA-compliant standards.
• Document monitoring findings with accurate notes, photographs, GPS data, and GIS-integrated records.
• Prepare monitoring reports and follow-up correspondence with landowners.
• Identify potential compliance issues or changes in land use.
• Support oversight for trail design, improvements, signage systems, and infrastructure.
• Lead and expand OLT’s stewardship volunteer program.
• Recruit, train, and manage volunteer trail crews, contracted trail crews, and other specialized contractors.
• Lead and coordinate volunteer workdays.

Landowner Relations & Communication

• Serve as a primary point of contact for landowners regarding routine stewardship questions, site visits, and reserved rights requests.
• Build strong, respectful, long-term relationships with landowners to support OLT’s ongoing stewardship mission.
• Schedule monitoring visits, maintain communication logs, and ensure timely follow-up on landowner inquiries.
• Uphold OLT’s identity as a trusted and supportive conservation partner in the community.

Baseline Documentation & Data Management

• Assist with the collection of baseline field data, photographs, GPS tracks, and supporting documentation for new conservation easements.
• Assist Director of Conservation with baseline documentation reports
• Maintain accurate and organized stewardship records, including digital files, GIS layers, photos, maps, and landowner correspondence.

Stewardship Operations & Compliance Support

• Track and record reserved rights requests, approvals, and site modifications and review and respond as necessary.
• Support research on property histories, deed restrictions, land use classification, and ecological conditions.
• Assist with enforcement preparedness by gathering documentation, maps, and historical records when needed.
• Support fee-land stewardship, including habitat management tasks, contractor coordination, signage, and site assessments.

GIS & Mapping Support

• Collect GPS data in the field and prepare maps for monitoring reports, landowner communication, and internal use.
• Update stewardship GIS layers and spatial records in coordination with the Director of Conservation.
• Assist with developing visual products (maps, simple graphics) to enhance stewardship storytelling and board reporting.

Program Administration & Capacity Building

• Maintain stewardship calendars and monitoring schedules to ensure compliance with annual visit requirements.
• Assist in implementing improved workflows, systems, and digital filing structures for stewardship records.
• Assist with special projects, events, donor site visits, and community engagement activities as assigned.
• Participate in stewardship-related training and professional development, including LTA resources, webinars, and field-based learning.

Working Conditions

• This position is expected to spend approximately 50% of the time in the field, depending on season.
• Frequent fieldwork in varying outdoor conditions and ability to navigate remote or uneven terrain.
• Occasional evening or weekend work for landowner meetings and OLT events.
• Valid driver’s license required.

Qualifications

Required

• Background or strong interest in land conservation, natural resource management, environmental science, forestry, wildlife biology, or related fields.
• Strong interpersonal skills and the ability to build positive relationships with landowners and community partners.
• Comfort working outdoors in varied field conditions (heat, mud, boats, UTVs, uneven terrain).
• Basic knowledge of GPS tools and/or willingness to learn GIS (ArcGIS Pro, ArcGIS Online, Landscape, etc.).
• Excellent organizational skills, attention to detail, and digital recordkeeping abilities.
• Clear written and verbal communication skills.
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and deadlines with professionalism and dependability.
• Ability to self-start, work independently, and manage time while delivering quality results.
• Ability to adhere to deadlines and prioritize.

Preferred

• Experience with conservation easements, monitoring, land management, habitat assessments, or similar stewardship work.
• Familiarity with GIS platforms, especially ArcGIS Pro and ArcGIS Online.
• Experience with baseline documentation, ecological fieldwork, or natural resource inventory methods.
• Knowledge of Lowcountry landscapes, ecosystems, land use patterns, and/or rural landowner relations.
• Familiarity with Land Trust Accreditation Commission Standards and Practices.