Are you inspired to protect and enhance the natural resources of the state of Colorado? Do you want to go to work to support biodiversity on working lands? Look no further. This is your dream job.
The Colorado State Land Board -- a state agency that manages a $5 billion endowment of financial, land, and mineral assets for the benefit of K-12 schoolchildren -- is looking for a Biodiversity Manager to join our Stewardship team. On any given day you might be presenting to our Governor-appointed Commissioners, inventorying ecological data, building action plans for the enhancement of managed land, liaising with agriculture communities, or hiking mountainous terrain to inspect our various trust properties.
What is the State Land Board?
The State Land Board is a constitutionally created agency that manages a $5 billion endowment of assets for the intergenerational benefit of Colorado’s K-12 schoolchildren and public institutions. The agency is the second-largest landowner in Colorado and generates revenue on behalf of beneficiaries by leasing nearly three million surface acres and four million subsurface acres for grazing and agriculture, natural resource extraction, renewable energy, recreation, commercial real estate and other uses. Unlike public lands, trust lands are not open to the public unless a property has been leased for public access. We are entirely self-funded and receive no tax dollars.
Though we are a 148-year old, constitutionally chartered agency, we take pride in being entrepreneurial and business-savvy. We compete in private sector markets daily and generate more than $250 million in revenue annually.
What is the Biodiversity Program?
The Biodiversity Program will protect and enhance species diversity and ecosystem health on state trust lands through the implementation of proven land, habitat, and species management practices. The State Land Board manages nearly 3 million acres of working lands under a dual constitutional mandate to generate reasonable and consistent income over time to benefit K-12 education and provide sound stewardship of state trust assets. This presents an opportunity to increase biodiversity across a significant land area while improving the long-term sustainability and productivity of the SLB’s trust lands, resulting in healthy, biologically diverse ecosystems that are more resilient to stressors such as overgrazing, drought and other extreme weather events, and climate change. All state trust lands are working lands and careful stewardship is essential to fulfilling both components of the State Land Board’s constitutional mandate to ensure the long-term economic value of the physical trust assets.
The job opportunity
This is not your typical government job. We want you to share in our excitement over intergenerational stewardship of natural assets and share in our pride of providing significant financial support to Colorado’s public schools. Your work will be a model across the country for land stewardship.
The Biodiversity Manager is an advocate for species and ecosystem diversity on state trust lands and implements projects to improve or protect biodiversity on those properties. The position supports biodiversity planning, prepares reports and action plans for trust lands, implements those plans, tracks and reports on progress against goals set by the agency related to biodiversity, facilitates programs related to biodiversity enhancement on trust land, and coordinates activities with other staff. Your duties include:
- Get your boots dirty. Regularly visit properties and lessees throughout the state to provide on-site staff presence and perform property condition assessments.
- Identify properties that would benefit from enhancement or restoration projects.
- Contribute to the development of strategies to maintain and improve the ecological health of state trust lands.
- Work with partners and lessees to implement plans that enhance pollinator habitat, protect and improve wetland and stream habitats, protect high priority wildlife habitat and rare plants, and reduce and manage invasive species.
- Evaluate proposed leases on state trust lands for potential impacts to natural resources. Identify or develop lease stipulations to avoid, minimize, or mitigate these impacts.
- Support the Stewardship Manager with mitigation projects (i.e. Ecosystem Services leases) to monetize the functions of wetlands, watersheds, and streams; and the protection and enhancement of wildlife, rare plant, and pollinator habitat through participation in regulatory and voluntary credit markets.
- Build up the program. You’ll be indoors at a computer as often as you’ll be in the field. (You’ll be part of an office that supports each other, but be prepared to make your own photocopies.)
- Establish/determine metrics for biodiversity on trust lands, help to set benchmark goals, develop plans and take actions to meet these goals.
- Based on your property inspections, document current conditions, prepare written monitoring reports, and maintain records according to agency policies.
- Inventory biological resources on various properties and manage data in our agency’s GIS and database system.
- Track biodiversity projects and outcomes, and makes data available for agency use
- Decide when third party consultant expertise is necessary, what budget is appropriate for the required services, and which consultants will be selected to do the work. Manage these contracts with support from the agency’s purchasing team.
- Do outreach. Land management is as much about people as it is about the land.
- Establish working relationships and partnership with various groups that are actively working to enhance biodiversity in the state to implement projects on State Trust Lands.
- Partner with our district staff (who are located in six offices throughout the state) and our administrative staff (who are located in our Denver headquarters) to achieve the desired resource management outcomes on a particular property.
- Educate lessees, stakeholders, staff, and other interested parties on the goals and objectives of plans, biodiversity programs, lease stipulations related to biodiversity, and best practices.
- Provide subject matter expertise on federal, state, and local programs that support biodiversity, and support lessees and partners with applications for funding and resources that will improve the condition of state trust land from the point of biodiversity.
- Speak at the podium. You’ll present your recommendations/findings/etc somewhat regularly to senior staff, our Board, and external groups.
What can you expect from us in return for your hard work?
We are a lean team of 50 staff members that places significant emphasis on promoting and maintaining a positive work environment. We get our work done, and we have fun doing it. The qualities of our environment include transparent and open communication, work-life balance (we mean it), and a focus on training and development. You’ll explore and travel our state on day trips or multi-day trips, but minimal out-of-state travel is required. As a state employee, you have access to a suite of HR benefits and holidays.
What attributes are we looking for?
You’re the type of person who knows the difference between blue grama grass and cheatgrass without looking it up. You respect the agriculture community. And presumably you love the outdoors.
While we value your hard-earned education credentials and admire your impressive professional titles, we care the most about your hands-on track record for natural resource management. To be successful (and we know you strive to do everything very well), we think you need to have the following traits and skills.
- Good written and oral communication with the ability to convey information to others effectively and efficiently
- Independent yet also a team player, proactively helps others
- Confidence working alone in the outdoors, ability to navigate to and around remote properties
- Project management skills
- Strong interpersonal skills
- Customer-service mindset, respectful, helpful
- Proactive, takes initiative, self motivated
- Possesses good problem solving skills, seeks to understand alternatives, employs logic and good judgment
- Self confident and self aware
- Great work ethic: results oriented, disciplined, conscientious, thorough, and diligent
- Honest, trustworthy, dependable
- Enthusiastic, energetic, optimistic, positive attitude
- Organized and professional
- Adaptable and open to change
At a minimum, you need the following:
- Eight (8) years of relevant experience in management of natural resources
OR
- A combination of education and relevant experience equal to eight (8) years in natural resources and/or land management, wetlands and riparian management, restoration, pollinator habitat enhancement, wildlife management and/or ecology. Acceptable degrees include Bachelor’s and/or Master’s degrees in biology, restoration ecology, natural resources management, wildlife, environmental studies, or similar field of study.
You get bonus points for the following qualifications:
- Three (3) years of experience in stewardship and natural resources work addressing the conditions and functions of the ecosystems found in Colorado, including working knowledge of, and ability to identify the flora and fauna of Colorado.
- Three (3) years of experience in the planning and implementation of restoration and mitigation projects for disturbed or degraded landscapes.
- Two (2) years of experience working with a variety of stakeholders from a broad array of backgrounds to enhance and restore degraded sites and ecosystems including wetlands, streams, and wildlife habitat.
- Knowledge of federal and state policies and programs related to the federal Endangered Species Act, Clean Water Act, wetlands and streams, the Colorado State Wildlife Action Plan, Colorado Parks & Wildlife high priority habitat, Colorado Natural Heritage Program, etc.
- Experience in grant writing and in managing a grant including documenting outcomes and reporting results.
- Experience with photographic documentation of landscape features and condition
- Current or former State experience relevant to this position
We hope this sounds like you. Tell us why. Apply online through the state portal.
Applications are accepted through 11/8/24.
PS: We compete in the private-sector markets every day and operate largely independently from state government. But not from HR. So please follow the lengthy prompts to apply for this position through the state hiring portal. Only candidates who apply through the state portal will be considered. Think of it as an endurance test. We hope to see you at the finish line.