Dept of Agriculture, Trade, & Consumer Protection Deputy Secretary Randy Romanski to visit BRC

Dept of Agriculture, Trade, & Consumer Protection Deputy Secretary Randy Romanski will be coming to visit the Bayfield Regional Conservancy on Friday August 21st. The main focus of his visit will be farmland preservation, especially with the Working Lands Initiative just getting passed in the recent budget. He will be arriving at BRC's office in downtown Bayfield at 8:00 am for a quick overview of our priorities projects (10-15 min) and then we will visit two of the farms that have been protected by the Town of Bayfield's Farmland Preservation Program: Blue Vista Farm and Highland Valley Farm, spending roughly 20 minutes at each farm.

The Working Lands Initiative included a Purchase of Agriculture Conservation Easements (PACE) program funded at $12M. The details of the program have yet to be hashed out and will be done over the coming next few months. The PACE program will be a great way to fuel local farmland preservation programs, such as the Town of Bayfield's program, and may perhaps catalyze the creation of other local efforts.

Please attend! We can be reached at 715-779-5263 for more details.

2 new job annoucements! Land Protection Specialist & Conservation Planner

#1
Land Protection Specialist

Job Title: Land Protection Specialist

Supervisor: Executive Director

Type: Part time (10 -15 hrs/wk), Temporary (10 mos)

Pay Rate: $16.00/hr

Location: Bayfield, WI, 54814

Closing date: August 30th, 2009

Location: Bayfield Regional Conservancy, Bayfield, WI.

Background: The Bayfield Regional Conservancy, a small, local land trust working in Bayfield, Ashland, Sawyer and Douglas Counties is seeking to hire a Land Protection Specialist.

The Land Protection Specialist would be responsible for implementing landowner outreach and conservation option workshops throughout BRC’s service area. The Land Protection Specialist will collaborate with other professionals to develop outreach materials and will implement conservation projects as time and funding permit.

Qualifications:

· Undergraduate degree in a natural resources related field and/or 3-5 years experience in land trust, grassroots organizing, or related work

· 3 years relevant experience with a land trust or similar conservation organization or agency. Demonstrated experience with purchase of easements/development rights and conservation sales preferred

· Excellent communication skills and ability to interact with a diverse group of land owners, attorneys, realtors, and government officials

· Understanding and working knowledge of land conservation programs (County, Federal, and Land Trust)

· Ability to locate, identify, and evaluate parcels of land for protection

· Ability to work independently and to set priorities.

· The ability to deal effectively and personably with a variety of people, including members, donors, directors, volunteers, landowners, and the public.

· The ability to work as a member of a team.

· Excellent communications skills, both verbal and written.

· Understanding of and commitment to BRC’s mission and goals.

· Working knowledge of ArcGIS 9.3 preferred.

Duties:

· Develop and manage an outreach program to educate potential conservation easement donors about the benefits of easement gifts.

· Conduct workshops and public presentations on BRC’s work and land protection and conservation options.

· Work with Executive Director and Land Projects Committee to identify, develop, and complete new projects.

· Prioritize land parcels for protection.

· Support stewardship and land monitoring functions.

WORKING CONDITIONS:

Work is performed in an office as well as in the field. Travel is required to meetings, speaking engagements, workshops.

APPLICATION DEADLINE: August 30, 2009. Please send a cover letter, resume, three references, and answers to the following questions (no more than 200 words per question), to:

Bayfield Regional Conservancy

Attn: Executive Director Position

P.O. Box 410

Bayfield, WI 54814

1. What is your experience working with landowners on conservation and/or complex real estate transactions?

2. What do you consider your most important knowledge and skills that qualify you to assume the job responsibilities of this position, and how did you acquire them?

3. Please give an example of a project you have taken charge of from start to finish.

The Bayfield Regional Conservancy is an equal opportunity employer.

www.brcland.org

#2

Project Position

Strategic Conservation Planning

September 15, 2009- May 30, 2010

Compensation: $6,600

The Bayfield Regional Conservancy, a small, local land trust, is seeking to hire a project consultant to implement strategic conservation planning in Bayfield County, Wisconsin.

Job Overview:

The consultant will collect information from documents, agencies, natural resource professionals and integrate the information into a conservation plan focusing on the Lake Superior basin in Douglas County. The plan will prioritize BRC’s land protection program in significant areas identified by the plan.

The consultant will prepare an outreach summary piece for sharing with natural resource agencies and units of government involved in local planning processes. The summary publication will build awareness of the priority sites and help raise interest and attract resources to implement land protection initiatives.

The consultant will establish a GIS workstation at the BRC office to support the planning work, and to be used when the plan is implemented.

Qualifications:

· Experience in conservation planning

· Strong organization skills to coordinate and implement the planning process

· Ability to read, analyze and synthesize existing plans and summarize into a conservation plan for BRC

· Experience coordinating publications: writing, layout, printing and distribution of written reports and summaries

· Familiarity with computers including: database and word processing software

· Experience with ArcGIS 9.3 and setting up a GIS computer workstation

· Good communication skills in speaking and writing

· Ability to work independently

· Good at setting and meeting deadlines

To Apply:

Submit a resume and cover letter by August 30, 2009. The cover letter should address the qualifications listed above and experience related to the job description. Please include the

phone numbers for three references. Interviews will be scheduled in August. Start date to be as soon as possible thereafter.

For More Information:

Contact the Bayfield Regional Conservancy at 715-779-LAND or see www.brcland.org

The Bayfield Regional Conservancy is a non-profit land trust dedicated to protecting

natural lands, waters, forests, farms and places of scenic, spiritual and

historic value in the Bayfiel

White River Trip!

Sign up for the Bayfield Regional Conservancy's

White River Canoe Trip with Bill Heart on July 26th!

Want to experience the abundant wildlife, peace and beauty of the White River while learning about our efforts to protect this special place?

BRC is offering the opportunity for a half day of canoeing the White with Bill Heart, Council Chair of WI Chapter of Trout Unlimited and Chair of Friends of the White River. After a hearty scrumptious breakfast at the famous Delta Diner, we will put in at the Town of Delta, and wind our way eastward towards the town of Kelley with a stop for lunch at a property BRC is buying this summer. This beautiful piece of land is highly developable and BRC, Friends of the White River and Trout Unlimited are joining forces to buy the property to protect for wildlife habitat and recreation.

Cost of Trip: $150/person and includes transportation, breakfast and lunch.

Hurry, the trip is limited to first 12 people to sign up!

Please forward this message to others who may be interested!

For more information contact Hannah Hudson, email hannah@brcland.org or telephone 715-779-5263

For more information on the White River project click here.

White River Property Canoe Trip!

The job of preserving special places is not always a picnic, but on
its best days it can be just that. On May 28 members of the Bayfield
Regional Conservancy board and friends of the White River launched a
flotilla of canoes for a  half-day paddle to inspect the parcel of
land BRC is acquiring there. The property, currently known as the Walker property but formerly known
as the old Hanson Farm, straddles the river in the Town of Delta and will be
held by BRC until it can be sold to the Wisconsin DNR.

 The day, which began with a group breakfast at the always tasty Delta
Diner,  was as fine as May can offer, with uncluttered blue skies,
warm air and even occasional breezes for cooling and mosquito control.
Host Bill Heart, accompanied by Roger Dreher and his home-built
birchbark canoe, led director Ellen Kwiatkowski and board members
Karin Kozie (with family), Shari Eggleson (with friend) Grandon Harris
(with camera) and Dennis McCann from the Pikes Bridge put-in to the
Sutherland Bridge take-out, a route graced with spring wildflowers and
abundant bird activity.

 After a few hours of paddling the group beached on the onetime farm
and enjoyed lunch under the shade of a tall pine while Heart explained
the property's former lives and expressed thanks for its coming
protections. There was more bird-watching and a bit of whimsical
imagining - perhaps a BRC music festival on the spacious grassland
along the river. Troutstock, anyone? Tickfest? No decision was reached
before it was time to get back on the water and head for the
Sutherland Bridge. On that note, the identities of those who tipped
their boat and suffered a White River dunking are really nobody else's
business.

-Dennis McCann

Photos by Grandon Harris

Announcing the 1st Annual Bayfield Regional Conservancy Photo Contest!

Bayfield Regional Conservancy 2009 Photo Contest!

*12 photos will be picked for a 2010 BRC Wall Calendar available in early December 2009*

Photos must be from the following locations:

• White River Watershed
• Upper Namekagon Watershed
• Fish Creek Watershed
• Iron River Watershed
• Upper Chippewa Watershed
• South Shore Streams
• Marengo River Watershed

• Photos need not be just of the rivers themselves but also other quality habitats in those watershed areas!

These are some of the very special places the BRC is working to protect and were identified through our Strategic Conservation Plan for Bayfield County. Please note that we will doing the same for Ashland, Douglas and Sawyer Counties during 2010-2011!

We will use the winning photos in promotional materials and our website. The winner’s photos will be credited to the photographer on all media they are used for.

All images must be in JPEG format, at least 1000 pixels on the long side, and at 300 dpi. Please submit to Hannah@brcland.org by Monday, May 18^th, 2009 at 4 pm. Winners will be announced on June 1^st!

Working Lands Initiative

The Joint Finance Committee – the senators and representatives who are putting together the 2009-2011 State Budget – will likely take up the Working Lands Initiative this week!

If you care about the future of Wisconsin’s farm and forest lands, you need to ACT NOW.

Please check out www.wisconsinfarmland.org for more information.

We need your help!

We are now on Twitter!

Follow us on twitter - we are under BRCLAnd! As summer gets busier and busier around here I will try to keep everyone up to date on the BRC's events and news.

Thanks!

Hannah