Local and Regional Job Opportunities

Whether you are a budding conservationist, natural resources scientist, seasoned environmental leader, or fund raiser who understands the value of greenery, here are some interesting local and regional job opportunities related to land conservation and open space preservation:

•  Director of Development, Barnstable Land Trust

•  Vice President for Watershed Protection, Coalition for Buzzards Bay

•  Summer Outreach Assistant, Coalition for Buzzards Bay

•  Development and Finance Assistant, Coalition for Buzzards Bay

•  Research Supervisor, Nantucket Conservation Foundation

•  Preserve Manager, Wildlands Trust of Southeastern Massachusetts

•  Southeast/Islands Regional Director, Mass Audubon

•  Massachusetts State Development Director, Trust for Public Land

Eastham Reappoints Member to Fourth Term on Conservation Commission

“Conservation Commission Update”
The Cape Codder, June 20, 2008

The Cape Codder reports that the Eastham Board of Selectmen reappointed David Hoerle to a fourth term on the town’s Conservation Commission, even though the Commission’s rules prohibit members from serving more than three terms.

June E-News of the Mass Land Trust Coalition

The June 7, 2008, E-News of the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition is available at the Coalition’s website. Designed for the entire state land conservation community, content includes:

•  New “Land & Water” state license plate funds land protection
•  U.S. Congress renews conservation tax incentive
•  Register for Land Trust Alliance’s Rally 2008 in Pittsburgh
•  Job Opportunities
•  A Guide to Invasive Plants in Massachusetts reprinted

The Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition is “the association of nearly 150 organizations dedicated to increasing the conservation impact of Massachusetts land trusts. The coalition plays a crucial role in advancing key conservation legislation, improving communication and collaboration with state environmental agencies, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas and information, and serving as an important networking resource for the state's land trust community.”

We note that Mark H. Robinson, Executive Director of The Compact of Cape Cod Conservation Trusts, is currently serving a term as Treasurer of the Massachusetts Land Trust Coalition.

Volunteer at the Coalition for Buzzards Bay

The Coalition for Buzzards Bay is just one of the many conservation and environmental organizations on the Cape & Islands that leans upon the hard work and generosity of volunteers to help fulfill its mission.

Founded in 1987, the Coalition for Buzzards Bay is a “membership-supported non profit organization dedicated to the restoration, protection and sustainable use and enjoyment of our irreplaceable Bay and its watershed. The Coalition works to improve the health of the Bay ecosystem for all through education, conservation, research and advocacy.”

At the moment, volunteer opportunities at the Coalition include:

•  Baywatchers: Help monitor harbors, coves, and rivers of the Bay

•  Baykeeper Support: Help keep the Bay clean by providing pump-out service to boaters in Cuttyhunk

•  Office Support: Help with office reception and membership mailings

•  Beach Clean-Up: Help clean the Bay’s beaches

•  Swim Buzzards Bay, July 19, 2008: “Each year swimmers participate in a 1.2 mile open-water swim across outer New Bedford Harbor. The funds they raise to support their swim, along with the public awareness generated from the event, make for a great day for Buzzards Bay. Volunteers are needed to swim, as well as help organize, promote and ensure the event goes off without a hitch.”

For more information, please visit the Volunteer Opportunities page at the Coalition’s website.

Head of Nantucket’s Siasconset Beach Preservation Fund Takes New Job

“Cheryl Bartlett Leaving SBPF, Pursues Job in Boston”
The Nantucket Independent, June 4, 2008
By Peter R. Brace

NANTUCKET -- Cheryl Bartlett, Siasconset Beach Preservation Fund's executive director, is reducing her workload - helping east-end islanders protect their property from erosion - to take a job with Boston's Department of Public Health.

As Siasconset Beach Preservation Fund (SBPF) lost its battle with voters this April to mine 1.9 million cubic yards of sand three miles off of Sankaty and rebuild the beach from the lighthouse to Codfish Park, SBPF conceded Bartlett's services are no longer needed in a full-time capacity. ... ©

Read the full article in The Nantucket Independent.

Sheriff's Meadow Foundation Maps the Future

Adam R. Moore, the new Executive Director of Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation on Martha’s Vineyard, addresses the recent native plant controversy and presents his vision for the future in a lengthy letter posted on the Foundation’s website:

“May 30, 2008

Dear Friends of Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation:

It is my great pleasure to introduce myself to you as the new Executive Director of Sheriff’s Meadow Foundation. I began work on May 1, 2008, and am truly honored to have been entrusted by the Board with leading Sheriff’s Meadow into its 50th Anniversary year and its second half-century of conservation. I am equally honored to serve an organization that, through your generous support, has succeeded in conserving some 2,637 acres of the island of Martha’s Vineyard. ..." ©

Read the full letter on the Foundation’s website.

Mr. Moore previously served as Executive Director of the Connecticut Forest & Park Association and Land Superintendent for the Martha’s Vineyard Land Bank Commission. He earned a Master of Forestry degree from the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies in 1995.

Cape Columnist Bids Farewell After Two Decades of Nature Writing

“A Fond Farewell After Two Decades of Nature Writing”
Cape Cod Times, June 1, 2008
By North Cairn

I wish for you the lyric of the commonplace, the poetry of ordinary things.

Today, I am concluding more than 20 years of column writing for the Cape Cod Times.

For the past two decades, I have enjoyed the privilege of occupying a small corner of the newspaper, once a week, to write about nature and the miracles of everyday life. ... ©

Read the full piece in the Cape Cod Times.

Cape Cod National Seashore Seeks Volunteers

The Provincetown Banner reports that the Cape Cod National Seashore is seeking volunteers this summer to work at the Seashore's locations in Truro and Provincetown.

Volunteers are needed at the Province Lands Visitor Center, the Old Harbor Life Saving Station, and on the nature trails in both Truro and Provincetown.

Also, the Seashore is looking for a volunteer photographer-videographer to produce programs and presentations for the local cable access television channel.

Nantucket Conservation Foundation Closes Eel Point to Vehicles; Seeks Research Supervisor

"Eel Point Closed to Vehicles; Erosion the Cause"
The Nantucket Independent, May 6, 2008
By Peter B. Brace

NANTUCKET -- Due to severe erosion, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation closed the end of Eel Point to vehicles indefinitely.

NCF Ecologist Karen Beattie estimates that erosion during the last 18 months has pushed the beach back into the salt marsh on the south side of Eel Point, washing away dunes held in place with beach grass and Rosa rugosa beach roses, further filling several mosquito ditches and blowing the sand back over the marsh. ... ©

Read the full article in The Nantucket Independent.

In related news, the Nantucket Conservation Foundation is “seeking a full-time, experienced Research Supervisor to oversee a variety of projects involving inventorying, monitoring, and managing species, habitats, and other natural resources found on the Foundation’s conservation lands.” For more details, please read the job announcement.

Nature Conservancy Hires Goldman Sachs Banker as New Chief Executive

"Nature Conservancy Hires Investment Banker as Its New CEO"
The Chronicle of Philanthropy, May 9, 2008
By Peter Panepento

WASHINGTON -- The Nature Conservancy today named an investment manager with a deep background in environmental issues to be its new chief executive.

Mark R. Tercek, 51, managing director at the investment firm Goldman Sachs and head of the firm’s Center for Environmental Markets, will replace Steven J. McCormick, who left the charity in October.

Mr. Tercek, who will start his new position in July, takes over at an important time for the nation’s largest environmental-conservation charity. ... ©

Read the full article in The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

The Nature Conservancy has protected more than 23,000 acres in Massachusetts and owns 20 preserves, including three on Cape Cod (Grassy Pond in Dennis, Boat Meadow in Eastham, and Sandy Neck in Barnstable) and six on the Islands (David H. Smith Preserve and Katama Plains in Edgartown; Hoft Farm, Francis Newhall Preserve, and Homer-Watcha Preserve in West Tisbury; Miacomet Moors on Nantucket).

Job Opportunities & Internships

Interested in a new job or career change? How about a student internship for the forthcoming summer? Here are some interesting opportunities related to the area of land conservation and open space preservation:

•  Community Planning Intern, Association to Preserve Cape Cod

•  Salt Marsh Monitoring Internship, Association to Preserve Cape Cod

•  Regional Director of Programs Southeast/Islands, Mass Audubon

•  Director of Development, Barnstable Land Trust

•  Advocacy Specialist, Coalition for Buzzards Bay

•  Development and Finance Assistant, Coalition for Buzzards Bay