Preserve Manager Santa Barbara County – Center for Natural Lands Management

The position is open until filled.

Position Summary and General Duties

The Preserve Manager – Santa Barbara County (Preserve Manager) will be responsible for managing a preserve in Santa Barbara County that has been permanently protected for conservation purposes. That preserve – Gaviota Tarplant Ranch Preserve – is a 2,731-acre preserve located south of Lompoc, CA that includes annual and perennial grassland, coastal oak woodland, coastal scrub, riparian, and wetlands. The species that commands the stewardship focus on this preserve is the State and Federally Endangered Gaviota tarplant. Other significant species that reside within the Preserve include Mesa horkelia, Kellogg’s horkelia, and California red-legged frog. CNLM will have perpetual management and monitoring responsibilities for this Preserve.

In this case, the Preserve is sufficiently large and demanding in its management that it is anticipated there will be two Preserve Managers. The Preserve Managers will work together but with some differentiated areas of emphasis—one focused on grazing and rangeland management and one focused on biological monitoring—as described below. The Preserve Managers will work with support of the South Coast Regional Preserve Manager for California in conducting all the management and monitoring activities needed to protect and conserve the Gaviota tarplant. In addition to managing the Preserve, the Preserve Managers may—as part of CNLM’s conservation team—work with other CNLM staff on some other preserves as reasonable for best efficiency.

Both positions will focus on the monitoring and management of Gaviota tarplant populations and habitat conditions and contribute to applied research and adaptive management in support of this species.

Location: Santa Barbara County (preserve is south of Lompoc, CA)
Position: Permanent / Full-time; Exempt (Salaried)
Compensation: $64,480 – $74,480 with benefits including, but not limited to, 11 paid holidays annually; three weeks of vacation annually (progressive); sick leave; substantial employer contribution to health insurance plan; dental and vision plans; employer contribution to retirement plan

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