Senior Manager, Southern Rockies Private Lands Reforestation

Department: Resilient Forests Reports To: Director, Private Lands Reforestation Location: Remote in New Mexico FLSA Category: Exempt Salary: $60,000 to $80,000

About Us

American Forests is a national non-profit organization committed to creating healthy and resilient forests from cities to large forest landscapes, that deliver essential benefits for climate, people, water, and wildlife. We advance our mission through forestry innovation, place-based partnerships to plant and restore forests, and movement building. We envision a world in which the significant environmental, societal, and economic benefits of forests are fully realized and equitably available to all people. Established in 1875, American Forests is the oldest national non-profit conservation organization in the U.S. working to restoring urban forests and forested landscapes for over 150 years.

American Forests is proud to be a diverse, equitable, inclusive, and accessible workplace. These are our shared values. We welcome individuals who bring a variety of backgrounds and experiences to be a part of our team to help make a difference individually and collectively as we work toward achieving our mission. We are committed to fostering an environment that is welcoming and respectful and provides opportunities for advancement and professional growth for every team member.

Position Summary

American Forests recently received a USFS grant to support the participation of historically underserved non-industrial private forestland owners and federally recognized Tribal Nations in emerging markets for resilient reforestation or reforestation that is resilient to future climate changes and disturbances as well as future market and economic conditions. We are working to deliver the following outcomes:* Provide underserved private landowners and federally recognized Tribal Nations with the technical and financial resources needed for implementing resilient reforestation projects.

• Create new opportunities for underserved private landowners and Tribal Nations to access new income streams and deploy climate-informed reforestation practices well suited to emerging markets for climate mitigation and resilience.
  
• Engage with and provide technical assistance to underserved private landowners and Tribal Nations about resilient reforestation and emerging markets for joint climate mitigation and adaptation.
  
• Implement high-integrity resilient reforestation projects yielding biodiversity, water, climate, and cultural benefits.
  

To advance this work, American Forests is looking for a Senior Manager of Southern Rockies Private Lands Reforestation to engage with underserved forest landowners and Tribal Nations to develop reforestation strategies; design and oversee implementation of high-quality reforestation projects; provide quality control of project implementation and work with consulting foresters, resource conservation districts, state agencies, and other technical assistance parties. This is a two (2) year position with the option to extend based on funding availability and/or the potential for other positions within American Forests.

Responsibilities

The Senior Manager of Southern Rockies Private Lands Reforestation will lead the origination, development, and implementation of reforestation/afforestation projects that may be well suited to carbon and ecosystem service markets. They will serve as an in-house expert on post-fire reforestation project design and implementation - understanding and implementing reforestation best practices that guide landowners through designing high-quality reforestation projects. They will directly provide technical assistance to landowners and consulting foresters who support landowners in reforestation projects. Specific responsibilities include:

Reforestation Project Design and Implementation (50%)* Work with landowners and consulting foresters to plan and design tree planting projects, project budgeting, placing seedling orders, selecting and supervising contractors, overseeing planting, ongoing maintenance, and forest inventory.

• Work individually and with external partners and internal American Forests experts to build out reforestation project guides and scenarios specific to the Southern Rockies.
  
• Manage reforestation plan development in consultation with private underserved landowners, project partners, consulting foresters, and other American Forests staff.
  
• Oversee and support implementation of forest stand inventories and assessments, including project layout.
  
• Support staff and consulting foresters to coordinate reforestation project implementation including seedling orders, planting contractors, and other implementation work as needed.
  
• Conduct initial project due diligence including site evaluations and project assessments.
  
• Work with American Forest staff and external technical carbon developer partners to complete carbon project feasibility assessments modeling forest growth and suitability for carbon project methodologies.
  
• Other related work as needed.
  

Landowner Outreach and Engagement (40%)* Build partnerships with groups and entities that serve private landowners including resource conservation districts (RCDs), state agencies, municipalities, university extension specialists, and consulting foresters to support landowner education and engagement around resilient reforestation market opportunities.

• Develop clear and compelling outreach materials detailing resilient reforestation opportunities, carbon market opportunities, and principles of climate-resilient reforestation, among other topics.
  
• Conduct direct outreach to underserved private landowners and Tribal Nations to evaluate opportunities for nature-based carbon projects throughout New Mexico, Colorado and Utah.
  
• Represent American Forests at conferences, workshops, presentations, and gatherings targeted at consulting foresters, private landowners, Tribal Nations and reforestation.
  
• Actively track and maintain records of landowner outreach, education, and engagement in line with reporting and metrics goals.
  

Program Administration (10%)* Support program fundraising with grant writing and participation in other fundraising efforts as appropriate.

• Work with administration and operation staff to track and manage program finances.
  
• Develop and manage budgets in partnership with American Forests� program and finance departments.
  
• Other duties as assigned.
  

Qualifications

While we do not expect any one candidate to possess all of these qualifications, the ideal candidate will possess many of the following:* At least five (5) years of experience working directly with forest landowners on reforestation, forest operations, conservation planning, forest restoration, outreach and engagement, or other related activities. Experience working with nurseries and placing seedling orders a plus.

• Experience designing, developing, and implementing forest ecosystem reforestation and/or restoration plans in accordance with local regulations and policies.
  
• Background in western forest science and management, forest policy, and/or collaborative conservation, sustainability, climate science and policy, natural climate solutions, and/or carbon sequestration.
  
• Familiarity with forest mensuration and inventory techniques.
  
• Experience building partnerships with landowner-facing groups and entities including resource conservation districts, consulting foresters, extension agents, state and public agencies.
  
• A proven track record of excellence in project management planning and execution.
  
• Self-starter and problem-solver with an ability to learn and adapt quickly.
  
• Ability to influence and engage a wide range of partners and build long-term relationships.
  
• Ability to work both independently without oversight and as a team player, productively engaging with others at varying levels of seniority within and outside American Forests.
  

American Forests’ Core Competencies:* Attitude: Brings a positive outlook to work and helps inspire others to achieve excellence.

• Communication: Produces strong written documents, edits documents effectively, engages in effective verbal communication-1-on-1 and small group-and conducts effective large group presentations.
  
• Organization: Prioritizes tasks effectively, accomplishes tasks efficiently, follows through on all commitments, breaks down large projects to make them manageable, and effectively manages complex projects involving multiple actors.
  
• Problem-Solving & Creativity: Identifies issues, effectively structures problems, analyzes data to produce insights, and generates wise, actionable recommendations. Understands the limited resources available and produces creative solutions.
  
• Representing the Organization: Serves as an effective ambassador, builds connections, and maintains relationships with outside partners, vendors, and donors. Brings credibility to the organization in how they present themselves.
  

Working Conditions

While this is a remote position, residence in the state of New Mexico is required. This position requires frequent travel, up to 30% of the time, throughout New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah to engage directly with underserved landowners and Tribal Nations and participate in key stakeholder meetings and program events. American Forests headquarters is in Washington, DC; occasional travel may be required to engage with colleagues.

This is a two (2) year position with the opportunity to extend based on funding availability.

The individual must be comfortable with prolonged periods of sitting and/or standing at a desk and working on a computer. Reasonable accommodation may be made to provide access to all individuals along the continuum of human ability and experience.

Benefits American Forests is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to diversity in the workplace. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sexual orientation, gender, gender identity, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or other characteristics protected by law. Reasonable accommodations may be made to provide access to all individuals along the continuum of human ability and experience. Minority/Female/Disabled/Veteran/LGBTQ+ Encouraged to Apply In accordance with federal law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, this institution is prohibited from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, disability, and reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity. (Not all prohibited bases apply to all programs.) Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible State or local Agency that administers the program or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information is also available in languages other than English.