Staff Forester - Stewardship

State of North Carolina•Johnston County, NC

49d

About The Position

"If there are no qualified candidates remaining in the applicant pool who meet the minimum education and experience or knowledge, skills and abilities required for the position then, an applicant who does not meet the minimum requirements may be considered for hire as a trainee. Salary for a trainee may be set lower than the classification salary range and recruitment range that is listed in the posting. The salary is adjusted as the trainee obtains the additional education and experience to fully meet the position qualifications as outlined in the classification specification." This position will administer and coordinate, two important North Carolina Forest Service (NCFS) statewide programs that include the Forest Stewardship Program and the Forest Legacy Program. This position will coordinate program activities and reporting and has overall responsibility for promoting both statewide, multi-agency programs or conservation services. This position provides guidance, training and technical assistance in forest management and stewardship practices for NCFS personnel statewide. This position will be responsible for working with partners to plan and coordinate landowner outreach events and natural resource management workshops. This position will work with conservation partners and land trusts to promote land acquisition and conservation easements through the USFS Forest Legacy program. This position will be responsible for the monitoring of conservation easements on land acquired using Forest Legacy funds. This position will work closely with the Stewardship program assistant and the FM Branch Head to promote and administer these programs to a diversity of customers and conservation partners. Additional program areas of involvement can include prescribed burning, forest health, threatened and endangered species, and Duty Station Location: Regional (within R2 Counties - Caswell, Alamance, Orange, Durham, Person, Wake, Vance, Warren, Northampton, Franklin, Halifax, Nash, Edgecombe, Wilson, Greene, Wayne, Harnett, Johnston, Hoke, Cumberland, Sampson, Robeson, Chatham, Lee, Moore, Scotland, Richmond, Montgomery, Stanly, Anson, Surry, Davidson, Forsyth, Stokes, Rockingham, Yadkin, Guilford, Davie, Randolph, Rowan). Duty Station will be discussed during interview.

Requirements

Forestry or natural resource management experience
Knowledge or skills working with conservation programs or organizations
Experience or knowledge working on grants, budget planning, or project management
Knowledge and experience using GPS, mapping skills, and creating or uploading shapefiles
Bachelor's degree in forestry from a Society of American Foresters (SAF) accredited institution and three years of related professional Forestry experience; or Registered by the NC Board of Registration for Foresters and three years of related professional post registration Forestry experience; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Those not registered at the time of hire must obtain registration as a Forester from the NC Board of Registration for Foresters within one year of employment.

Responsibilities

Plan the overall direction, program implementation, budget management, and reporting for both NCFS programs
Working with landowners, agency personnel, and partners to promote comprehensive woodland plans, stewardship activities, landowner recognition and forestry education or outreach events
Working with NCFS Districts to provide natural resource management training opportunities and events
Coordinate with the State Stewardship Committee and the Stewardship Planning & Operations Committee to implement forest stewardship program activities and events to landowners, partners, and agency personnel
Work with NCFS and USFS to provide annual program accomplishment summaries, develop program grant narratives for annual funding, and submit progress or end of year reports to agency contacts
Coordinate Forest Legacy application promotion, committee review, and approval at the State Level
Draft and review conservation easement documents and administer program requirements related to briefing project narratives, grant funding administration, project documentation, and submit progress or end of year reports to agency contacts for the Forest Legacy Program
Facilitate the annual monitoring of all Forest Legacy funded conservation easements
Coordinate landowner conferences, workshops, contractor trainings, and meetings to promote forest stewardship and natural resource management
Assist the FM Branch Head with the development of new or current financial assistance programs funded with federal funding that may include areas focused on plan preparation, prescribed burning, or forest health
Attend national and southern regional meetings to represent NC program's interests
NCFS is an emergency response organization. This position may be involved in incident response duties when requested or required to become qualified to serve on an incident management team