The Middlebury Area Land Trust (MALT) seeks a highly organized and collaborative Conservation & Lands Manager to lead the stewardship and day-to-day management of MALT’s growing portfolio of conserved lands.
MALT is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit land trust dedicated to connecting our community with the lands we protect. We conserve and steward land, build and maintain more than 35 miles of trails—including the iconic 20 mile Trail Around Middlebury (TAM)—and provide environmental education and outdoor programs for people of all ages. MALT is a member of the Land Trust Alliance and an affiliate of the North Country National Scenic Trail. Since 1987, MALT has helped conserve more than 4,300 acres through conservation easements, partnerships with organizations such as the Vermont Land Trust, and direct ownership of community lands including Otter Creek Park, Otter View Park, and Salisbury Mills.
This is first and foremost a land management and stewardship position. The Conservation & Lands Manager will report directly to MALT’s Executive Director and will take primary responsibility for the day-to-day care of MALT-owned lands, monitoring MALT’s conservation easements, and maintaining strong relationships with landowners, municipalities, conservation partners, and other stakeholders.
The position will oversee stewardship of MALT’s six properties totaling approximately 450 acres and the annual monitoring of 24 conservation easements protecting approximately 2,100 additional acres. The Manager will also work with municipalities and other partners to help steward approximately 450 acres of additional public and conserved lands. Together, these properties represent a diverse network of forests, fields, wetlands, wildlife habitat, trails, and other natural and recreational resources.
The Conservation & Lands Manager will be expected to understand this portfolio at both the landscape and individual-property level. Working closely with the Executive Director, the Manager will establish clear annual stewardship priorities, maintain and update property management plans, identify future needs, develop work plans and budgets, and ensure that MALT has the systems and resources necessary to steward these lands.
Day-to-day responsibilities will span forest and habitat management, invasive species control, mowing and brush management, conservation easement monitoring, property infrastructure, and coordination of higher-level trail stewardship needs. The Manager will perform some fieldwork directly, but an equally important part of the position is making sure the work gets done effectively—planning projects and helping to coordinate contractors, volunteers, interns, AmeriCorps members, and seasonal trail staff to implement an integrated stewardship program across MALT’s lands.
The successful candidate will therefore be equally comfortable developing an annual stewardship plan, meeting with a landowner or community partner, walking an easement boundary, managing a contractor or coordinating volunteers, and occasionally getting on a tractor or using a trimmer when the work requires it.
This position also comes at an exciting period of growth for MALT. The organization has an ambitious long-term vision to expand land conservation, trails, outdoor recreation, and environmental education throughout the region. The Conservation & Lands Manager will play an important role in helping MALT grow responsibly by ensuring that excellent stewardship remains the foundation for that expansion.
MALT believes that conservation and community connection should reinforce one another. The Conservation & Lands Manager will help ensure that conservation, stewardship, trails, outdoor recreation, and environmental education are thoughtfully integrated across the lands we protect and manage.
Core Responsibilities
Land Management & Stewardship
- Support the Executive Director who leads the organization's overall strategic planning and budgeting in regards to MALT’s conserved land portfolio and trail system.
- Develop and maintain a comprehensive annual stewardship plan for MALT's portfolio of owned, conserved, and partner-managed lands, identifying priorities, schedules, responsibilities, management and resource needs.
- Per the Stewardship plan, maintain a clear system for tracking the condition, obligations, management needs, and planned work associated with MALT's entire land portfolio.
- Per the Stewardship plan, coordinate and lead the execution of MALT's day-to-day stewardship responsibilities on MALT conserved lands and trail system. These could include: forest management, habitat improvement, invasive species management, mowing, brush cutting, plowing, boundary maintenance, and other recurring property-management needs.
- Per the Stewardship plan, help manage contractors, seasonal staff, AmeriCorps members, interns, volunteers, and partner organizations engaged in day-to-day stewardship activities.
- Per the Stewardship plan, perform occasional field work directly, including mowing, brush cutting, property inspections, boundary work, and other day-to-day stewardship activities as needed.
- Conduct routine monitoring visits to maintain familiarity with the condition of MALT properties and adapt MALT’s annual stewardship plan, as needed, based on emerging stewardship issues and opportunities.
- Help develop, update, and implement property-specific management plans
- Coordinate closely with MALT's trail staff and contractors to ensure that trail maintenance and recreational infrastructure are compatible with conservation objectives and property-management plans.
- Help develop scopes of work, obtain estimates, oversee contractors, track projects, and help develop annual stewardship budgets.
- Provide regular updates to the Executive Director and appropriate Board committees on stewardship priorities, accomplishments, emerging issues, and resource needs.
- Maintain organized digital and physical records, maps, GIS data, management plans, easement documentation, contractor information, and project histories.
Conservation Easement Stewardship
- Ensure that 100% of MALT's conservation easements are monitored annually and that monitoring is conducted and documented consistently and professionally.
- Maintain strong relationships with conservation landowners and serve as a knowledgeable and diplomatic point of contact regarding easement stewardship.
- Review proposed landowner activities for consistency with conservation easements and coordinate with the Executive Director and appropriate advisors when complex questions arise.
- Maintain accurate and complete stewardship records, including monitoring reports, maps, photographs, correspondence, management plans, and other documentation.
- Help ensure MALT's conservation and stewardship practices are consistent with applicable Land Trust Alliance Standards & Practices.
- Support baseline documentation, GIS mapping, boundary information, and other technical stewardship needs.
Conservation Planning
- Support the Executive Director in identifying, evaluating, and advancing new conservation opportunities consistent with MALT's strategic priorities.
- Support the Executive Director to conduct initial property assessments and help evaluate conservation values, stewardship implications, public-access opportunities, and long-term management needs associated with prospective projects.
- Support the Executive Director on conservation project development, due diligence, baseline documentation, management planning, and transition of newly protected properties into MALT's long-term stewardship portfolio.
- Participate in site visits and conversations with landowners, municipalities, conservation partners, and technical experts.
Partnerships & Community Stewardship
MALT is fundamentally a community organization, and successful conservation depends upon strong relationships.
- Support the Executive Director to develop and maintain productive relationships with landowners, municipalities, conservation organizations, educational institutions, recreation groups, contractors, volunteers, and community partners.
- Coordinate stewardship projects with MALT's extensive network of partners, including municipalities, educational institutions, conservation organizations, community groups, and outdoor recreation partners.
- Represent MALT professionally and diplomatically in the field and in meetings with partners and landowners.
- Support the Executive Director to leverage partnerships, shared staff, technical expertise, equipment, volunteers, and other resources to increase MALT's stewardship capacity.
Qualifications
Required or Strongly Preferred
- Bachelor's degree in natural resources, forestry, ecology, environmental science, conservation, land management, or a related field; or equivalent significant professional experience managing conserved or natural lands.
- Strong organizational and project-management skills, with the ability to manage multiple properties, projects, contractors, schedules, and priorities simultaneously.
- Good interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to work diplomatically with landowners, volunteers, contractors, community members, and organizational partners.
- Good written and verbal communication skills.
- Ability to work independently while functioning effectively as part of a small, highly collaborative staff..
- Willingness and ability to occasionally perform hands-on stewardship work using appropriate tools and equipment.
Helpful Experience
Experience in several of the following areas would be particularly valuable:
- Conservation easements and annual easement monitoring
- Forest management and silviculture
- Wildlife habitat and biodiversity management
- Invasive species management
- Trail planning, construction, or maintenance
- GIS and natural-resource mapping
- Conservation project development and land transactions
- Contractor and project management
- Volunteer or seasonal crew supervision
- Municipal or nonprofit land management
- Operating tractors, mowers, brush cutters, chainsaws, or other land-management equipment
