MDI Conservation Easement Steward

Maine Coast Heritage Trust seeks a Conservation Easement Steward to manage easements in coastal Maine, ensuring compliance with restrictions and maintaining conservation values. Responsibilities include monitoring visits, record keeping, and relationship management with landowners. The role requires attention to detail, communication skills, and a basic understanding of natural resources. This part-time position (24 hours/week) offers benefits and requires regular attendance at the workplace.
Maine Coast Heritage Trust (MCHT) is looking for a Conservation Easement Steward to oversee the stewardship of conservation easements held by MCHT in the coastal areas from Belfast to East Machias including on islands in that region in order to assure that easement restrictions and requirements are upheld and implemented and that the conservation values of the properties are maintained.

This requires maintenance of excellent communications and relationships with the involved landowners, sometimes in adversarial situations, a clear understanding of the conservation easements, a basic understanding of natural resources, meticulous record keeping, willingness to thoroughly explore properties with great attention to detail (including structure measurements), and the ability to critically assess the compliance of various actions with easement restrictions.

Essential Job Functions:
• Develops and maintains positive relationships with landowners/donors, communicating prior to and during monitoring visits.
• Compiles and maintains detailed written and photographic records about the condition of each easement property.
• Conducts regular in-person monitoring visits, including meeting with landowners and walking the restricted properties, and prepares and distributes monitoring reports promptly.
• Collaborates with landowners to maintain compliance.
• Creates, curates and maintains thorough records of all information and communications to ensure that MCHT’s easement program is sound and defensible. This includes populating the Stewardship database with easement related data, and paper and digital files in a prompt and ongoing way.
• Adheres to MCHT’s record keeping policy to ensure the organizations status as a Land Trust Alliance accredited Land Trust.
• Upholds legal requirements of the easements, and when violations occur, works with MCHT’s Conservation Easement Manager, Senior Director of Stewardship, and Staff Attorney to assist drafting of an action plan and written responses.
• Exercises affirmative rights on eased properties where appropriate. Works with landowners and other staff as easement issues arise or upon landowner request. This may include assisting in drafting of approvals, violations, and/or amendments to the easement.

General Responsibilities:
• Serves as a member of MCHT’s Stewardship Team and takes on specific assignments as requested, including attending meetings, serving on committees, helping with events, assisting other organizations, or developing areas of expertise that will help the organization.
• May participate in the maintenance of stewardship related equipment, vehicles and boats, and stewardship equipment work and storage areas.
• Assists with the annual Land Trust Conference.
• Utilizes GPS equipment for property mapping, including trails, unique natural features, and human created features.
• Performs special projects and other related duties as required, directed, or as the situation dictates.
• Regular attendance at the workplace is required.
• Adherence to organizational policies and practices is required.

This is a permanent, part-time (24 hours a week) position with a generous benefits package including insurance, vacation and sick time, 14 paid holidays and a retirement plan. The starting hourly rate for this role is $30 to $33 per hour and will depend upon experience.

MCHT has offices in Topsham, Rockport, Mount Desert Island, and Whiting. The location of this position will be in the Mount Desert Island office. This position needs to be on-site at the MDI office twice a week.

Qualifications

Education and Experience:
• Candidates with 5-6 years of experience in land conservation, preferably conservation easement-related work, will be considered for this position.
• An associate or bachelor’s degree in a related field (e.g. natural resource management, environmental policy, or environmental sciences) and 3 years of relevant experience working with land use restrictions is preferred.

Preferred Qualifications:
• Excellent field skills, including working with map, compass, and GPS systems, reading terrain, and identifying/understanding natural resource sensitivities/constraints.
• Familiarity with conservation easements and related documentation and required communications.
• Experience with complex documents such as conservation planning, zoning and ordinance review, land trust/land protection work, natural resource management, etc.
• Familiarity with the region and its communities, both on land and water.
• Working knowledge of Maine geography, culture, flora and fauna.
• Proven ability for attention to detail.
• Ability to understand complex documents.
• Requires boat handling skills with small and medium sized boats, including navigation and basic power boat knowledge. If necessary, training will be provided. (Some easements are on islands)
• Strong organization, problem-solving, and multi-tasking skills with attention to detail and deadlines.
• Good physical fitness required to perform duties.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, preferably including public speaking skills.
• Ability to work both independently and as part of a team.
• Ability to effectively operate computers and assigned software, including MCHT’s Stewardship and Lands Database, Microsoft Office, Excel and other applications.
• Flexibility

Working Conditions & Physical Demands

Field work is performed outdoors in all weather conditions and requires climbing, walking, bending, getting on and off boats where no facilities exist. Operates GPS, compass, camera, boats/marine vessels. Regular travel is required. Weekend and night work may occur.

Some work is performed in a normal office environment not subject to extremes of noise, temperature, odor, etc. Operates computer, printer, and other office equipment.

How to Apply

Please send your resume and a cover letter outlining your experience and passion for our mission to search@mcht.org by March 30, 2025.  Please use “CE Steward” in the subject line.

Maine Coast Heritage Trust is an equal opportunity employer dedicated to creating an inclusive culture where employees from diverse backgrounds can thrive and support our mission. We recruit, hire, train, promote, compensate, and administer all personnel actions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sex stereotyping, gender, gender identity, gender expression, national origin, age, mental or physical disability, ancestry, medical condition, marital status, military or veteran status, sexual orientation, genetic information, or any other status protected by applicable law.