South Region Resource Specialist

PLEASE NOTE! THIS JOB IS OFFERED BY THE STATE OF COLORADO. YOU MUST USE THE STATE'S WEBSITE TO POST FOR THIS JOB. THE really APPLICATION PROCESS WILL NOT RESULT IN YOUR APPLICATION BEING REVIEWED. GO TO THIS WEB ADDRESS TO APPLY (COPY THE ADDRESS AND PASTE IT INTO A NEW BROWSER WINDOW):

https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/colorado/jobs/4822373/state-land-board-south-region-resource-specialist

APPLICATION OPENING DATE: February 10, 2025

APPLICATION CLOSING DATE: February 24, 2025

South Region Resource Specialist

LOCATION: Your office is in Lamar, and you support the State Land Board’s South Central, Southeast, and Southwest District offices.

Do you have a passion for ranching and wildlife? Range management and ecosystem conservation? Wildlife habitat management? Working with an awesome small team?

We want you!

The Colorado State Land Board is looking for a South Region Resource Specialist to join our field operations team. You’ll use your knowledge of natural resources and agriculture to help oversee and steward 2.8 million acres of surface and 4 million acres of subsurface trust land in Colorado. On any given day you might be presenting to our Governor-appointed Commissioners, inventorying millions of acres of trust land, liaising with ranchers, or 4-wheeling on rugged terrain to inspect our leased properties.

What is the State Land Board?

The State Land Board is a constitutionally created agency founded in 1876 that manages a $4 billion endowment of assets for the intergenerational benefit of Colorado’s K-12 schoolchildren. We compete in private markets daily and take pride in being especially entrepreneurial and business-savvy. We compete in private markets daily and take pride in being especially entrepreneurial and business-savvy.

We are the second-largest landowner in Colorado and generate revenue for public schools by leasing nearly three million surface acres and four million subsurface acres for agriculture, grazing, recreation, commercial real estate, rights-of-way, renewable energy, oil, gas, and solid minerals.

What kind of land do we have and how do we manage it?

Our field operations team is responsible for overseeing 2.8 million acres of surface land. We currently have about 1,800 agriculture leases that generate $14 million annually. We have seven offices throughout the state. This position provides resource expertise in the agency’s district offices. The position supports the South Central, Southeast, and Southwest District offices.

While we own and lease the assets, we are not operators. Lessees are responsible for all ranching operations. That said, we partner with our lessees to ensure that the land is well managed and that the agency’s stewardship objectives are met. Most of our properties have multiple leases, for example an agriculture lease allowing grazing and a recreation lease allowing hunting. Layering leases is one way we carry out our mission, which is to raise money for Colorado public schools while ensuring that the land is well cared for in order to benefit future generations.

The job opportunity

NOTE: This posting is only open to residents of the State of Colorado at the time of submitting your application.

This isn’t 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 massive-scale (2.8 million acres) of land management.

The South Region District Resource Specialist manages specific agency assets (such as large ranches), performs field inspections, prepares reports (on rangeland inventory and monitoring), identifies and resolves issues associated with the use of state trust land and provides direct support to District Managers. This position possesses a unique level of knowledge and expertise required to manage large working landscapes and balance multiple priorities associated with ranching, farming, energy development, recreation and wildlife management.

Your day-to-day:

1) Get your boots dirty

• Travel independently to all properties within their districts and to complete inspections via foot and/or off-highway vehicle.
• Establish management plans for large ranch properties.
• Resolve property use conflicts and determine the best approach to manage and avoid future conflict.
• Verify compliance with lease terms and determine the proper course of action if lease violations are identified.
• Assist large ranch lease holders develop range management practices, range monitoring, pasture and water development plans, and grazing strategies.
• Monitoring and inspection of irrigated and dry cropland farming.

2) Use your business-savvy

• Identify potential business transactions and work with the district manager and potential customer to strategically put the plan in place.
• Utilize their unique knowledge of the district and customers to evaluate and make decisions regarding new business opportunities. These may include the enrollment of land into the Public Access Program, requiring the use of Holistic grazing practices on state trust land and/or sourcing opportunities for recreation, minerals and renewable energy leases on state trust land.

3) Share the State Land Board story

• Implement strategies for outreach and communication with lessees regarding new and/or modified Land Board policies.
• Work with SLB communications staff to effectively develop and deliver messaging related to SLB initiatives such as the emergency drought relief program, trust land hunting tag program and implementation of new lease rates.
• Provide district managers with clear and concise information regarding the status of current projects, programs and initiatives.
• Identify issues that may impact the timely implementation of agency policies and procedures and recommend potential solutions.
• Attend meetings in other state offices and attend group meetings held around the state

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 have access to a suite of HR benefits and holidays. And you can feel good knowing your work is directly supporting Colorado schools.

What are we looking for?

At a minimum, you need:

• Six (6) years of relevant experience in the management of large working and/or production landscapes.

- OR -

• A combination of related education and/or relevant experience in an occupation related to the work assigned equal to six (6) years, including the management of large working and/or production landscapes.
• Acceptable degrees include Bachelor’s (substitutes for 4 years of experience) and/or Master’s (substitutes for 2 years experience) degrees in Agricultural Sciences, Natural Resources, Agriculture and Resource Economics, Range or Forest Management or closely related field.

Bonus points if you can demonstrate the following:

• Current or former State experience relevant to this position
• Ranching and large working landscapes
• Range Management practices and rangeland monitoring (e.g. transects, photo points, clipping)
• Experience determining Livestock Carrying Capacity and stocking rates on rangeland
• Agricultural leasing and leases
• Noxious weeds and treatment strategies
• Ranching and/or landscape management in Southern Colorado
• Working knowledge of Colorado water law
• Working knowledge of GIS mapping systems, preferably ARCGIS Pro

To be successful as a member of this agency, you’ll have these professional 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
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Customer-service mindset, respectful, helpful
• Proactive, takes initiative, self motivated
• Possess good problem solving skills, seek to understand alternatives, employ 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

We hope this sounds like you. If it does, tell us why, here: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/colorado/jobs/4822373/state-land-board-south-region-resource-specialist

Applications are accepted through 2/24/2025.

We compete in the private-sector markets every day and operate largely independently from the state government. However, we must follow HR hiring protocols. So please follow the lengthy prompts to apply for this position through the state hiring portal. Only candidates who apply through the state portal are considered. Think of it as an endurance test. We hope to see you at the finish line!

Job Type: Full-time

Pay: $57,708.00 - $62,400.00 per year

Benefits:

• Dental insurance
• Health insurance
• Health savings account
• Life insurance
• Paid time off
• Vision insurance

Schedule:

• Monday to Friday

Ability to Relocate:

• Lamar, CO 81052: Relocate before starting work (Required)

Work Location: Hybrid remote in Lamar, CO 81052

Salary : $57,708 - $62,400