Land Stewardship Specialist

Job Description: Land Stewardship Specialist

POSITION TITLE:              Land Stewardship Specialist                      

LOCATION:                        Upstate Forever Greenville Office (hybrid-remote schedule)

POSITION SUMMARY

The Land Stewardship Specialist plays an integral role in the Land Conservation program. The goal of this program is to work with landowners and partners using a variety of conservation tools to permanently protect rivers and streams, natural and scenic areas, farmland, and wildlife habitat. Specifically, the Stewardship and Restoration section of the program ensures compliance with conservation easements including the perpetual protection of conservation values. This full-time position reports to the Assistant Director of Stewardship and Land Management.

The Land Stewardship Specialist supports the Stewardship and Land Management team to fulfill Upstate Forever’s stewardship duties for all properties for which it holds conservation easements. Upstate Forever’s land trust now protects more than 32,000 acres on 172 properties, each of which must be monitored on an annual basis. The primary responsibilities of this position are focused on fulfilling annual monitoring obligations. Accordingly, the Land Stewardship Specialist will be responsible for managing a portfolio of 90 protected properties and fieldwork will constitute approximately 60% of the Land Stewardship Specialist’s time. Upstate Forever’s Stewardship program is based in the Greenville office.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Conservation Easement Stewardship – Support the Assistant Director of Stewardship and Land Management and Land Stewardship Coordinator to ensure that all conservation easements (voluntary legal agreements that permanently limit land uses to protect conservation values) are upheld by accomplishing the following tasks in close coordination with all stewardship staff:
• Conduct annual monitoring visits, either on foot or remotely, to conservation easement properties within the ten counties of the Upstate region.
• Prepare accurate and thorough monitoring reports using our web-based conservation software programs: Landscape and Lens.
• Address landowner questions, reserved rights requests, submitted plans, and potential violations in a timely manner and in accordance with Upstate Forever policies.
• Investigate and document potential easement violations.
• Maintain professional and complete records in compliance with Land Trust Standards and Practices and Upstate Forever policies, document all activities on a protected property and all relevant correspondence with the landowner; manage offsite storage of permanent documentation of annual site visits.
• Prevent violations by implementing landowner education strategies and building relationships with landowners.
• Assist landowners with third-party problems affecting the easement property.
• Landowner Outreach/ Education – Maintain and strengthen relationships with easement landowners and the public.
• • Assist with volunteer workdays.
  • Assist with publications for easement landowners, such as the stewardship newsletter.
• Land Trust Accreditation, Standards and Practices – Support the Assistant Director of Stewardship and Land Management in upholding the Accredited status of Upstate Forever’s Land Conservation program according to the Land Trust Alliance Land Trust Standards and Practices.
• Other Responsibilities – Perform additional work assigned by Assistant Director of Stewardship and Land Management. Attend Upstate Forever events such as Land Trust Days, the organization’s Annual Meeting with members, and the Forever Green Luncheon.

ESSENTIAL EDUCATION, SKILLS, ABILITIES

• Education – a Bachelor’s degree preferably in forestry, biology, wildlife management, natural resource management, environmental studies, or at least one year experience with demonstrated success in the field of land conservation or natural resource management.
• Travel – capable of independent travel around Upstate Forever’s ten-county region. Weekend work is needed on rare occasions, and overnight travel is limited primarily to conferences and professional development opportunities. A reliable vehicle, valid driver’s license, and appropriate vehicle insurance are required for travel to sites throughout our 10-county service area.
• Physical Mobility – capable of lifting and carrying with up to 20 lbs. while traversing difficult terrain, including but not limited to steep, mountainous, forested, rocky, uneven, densely vegetated, trail-less, and/or marshy conditions, as well as stream and shallow river crossings, during various weather conditions.
• Organizational skills – ability to meet deadlines and manage multiple unique tasks with a strong attention to detail.
• Technical skills – proficient with general office and computer skills (including Outlook, Word, Excel, Teams, Acrobat). Working knowledge of or willingness to build familiarity with ArcGIS, GPS, and database software. Ability to quickly adopt and use new software and hardware tools to facility standard communications and data processing.
• Drone pilot certification – certification or ability to become certified within 1-2 years of employment at UF.
• People skills – an ability to interact with individuals from different backgrounds, ages and socio-economic levels in a manner that positively reflects the values of Upstate Forever.
• Communication – strong speaking, writing, and listening skills; able to effectively communicate Upstate Forever’s position with landowners and solve disputes while maintaining positive relationships.
• Part of a Team – easy to approach and talk to; spends extra effort to put people at ease; can be warm, pleasant, and gracious; is sensitive to and patient with interpersonal anxieties of others; builds rapport well; is a good listener; able to work with others, respect for all team members and ability to foster and maintain an enjoyable, rewarding and productive workplace.
• Self-Motivated – comfortable working independently on multiple projects simultaneously, strong organizational and time management skills, a commitment to accuracy and integrity in all aspects of the job.

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS – Applicants that possess the Essential Qualifications above but do not have the Preferred Qualifications should remain encouraged to apply.

• Experience with a land trust program; experience with nonprofit organizations and working knowledge of Upstate ecology, history, and issues.
• GIS experience.

COMPENSATION AND BENEFITS

• $49,000 starting salary – negotiable depending on experience.
• Benefits include health and dental insurance, paid time off/paid holidays, paid sick time, and a 401K with employer contribution.
• Flexible workplace and scheduling (in accordance with company policy – the normal expectation is that staff are available during the standard workday for meetings and responses to time-sensitive requests).
• Civic Days (up to 16 paid hours per year for civic and/or community service).

COVID-19 precautions: To protect the safety of our employees considering the recommendations from the State and Federal Governments because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Upstate Forever strongly encourages all employees to receive COVID-19 vaccinations.

Remote work policy: Subject to coordination with and approval by supervisor, an employee may regularly work remotely up to four days per week and is required to work from the office one day per week, in addition to attending necessary internal and external in-person meetings. When working remotely, employees must clearly communicate their availability and means of being contacted. Likewise, employees must be reasonably accessible and responsive to internal and external communication. Employees are responsible for their own phone and internet expenses enabling remote work.

DEI Commitment: Upstate Forever is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion. We are taking deliberate steps to build authentic community partnerships and cultivate new leaders at all levels of our organization – from our membership to our staff to our board – to ensure that we better represent the community we serve.