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Gold Ridge resource conservation district

Sebastapol, CA

 

http://www.goldridgercd.org/

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1. Farm To School and Monarch Recovery Coordinator

 

2. Forest Conservation Projects Assistant

 

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Desired Skills/Traits:

 

Project 1

  • Primary Desired Academic Background and Knowledge

    • Degree and/or coursework showing interest in natural resource conservation,  public health and nutrition, youth education, or other related topics.

  • Primary Desired Skills, Traits, or Physical Abilities

    • Enjoys working with diverse people and organizations. 

    • Has experience with ArcGIS mapping or interest in learning.

    • Has an interest in improving and protecting natural resources.

    • Is organized, prompt, respectful and responsive.

    • Motivated and self-directed once given a task.

    • Strong written and verbal communication stills.

  • Secondary Skills

    • Spanish fluency.

    • Has interest in learning or experience in social media and outreach.

    • Potentially administering the RCD Project Tracking tool (https://www.rcdprojects.org/) on behalf of all RCDs participating in CA.

    • Other projects such as field assistance and restoration projects.

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Our goal is to help train and prepare the next wave of Conservation Planners.  We need folks who are interested in the social, economic, and ecological aspects of change.  We need folks who are able to engage in the work of general outreach & storytelling, community engagement, consensus building, local food production, monarch butterfly recovery, and community grazing support for grassland health and fire fuels reduction.  

 

Project 2

  •  Degree in Natural Resource Management, Forestry, Public Engagement, Communications, Marketing.

  •  Interest in engaging individuals and communities in forest beneficial management practices, climate and fire resiliency.

  • Enjoys working with diverse people and organizations.

  • Has an interest in improving and protecting natural resources

  • Is organized, prompt, respectful and responsive

  •  Motivated and self-directed once given a task.

  • Strong written and verbal communication skills.

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Openings: 0 of 2​

Focus Area: Agri-food Systems, Forestry

Food Systems,  Education & Outreach; Regenerative Agriculture; Climate Mitigation & Adaptation

project 1 breakdown

Research

0%

Planning

20%

Implementation

50%

Education & Outreach

30%

project 2 breakdown

Research

15%

Planning

20%

Implementation

50%

Education & Outreach

15%

Goals & Needs

 

Project 1

The Gold Ridge Resource Conservation District (GRRCD) in western Sonoma County, with twelve staff of diverse backgrounds, conducts multiple programs focused on natural resource management, climate change adaptation, watershed health, and sustainable agriculture.  Our AmeriCorps Fellows have opportunities to engage with staff in numerous capacities, in both field work and office-based activities, as well as activities through our project partners.  This Coordinator position will focus primarily on two related programs:  a Farm To School Program, designed to increase the on-school production of and access to fresh produce in school lunches through both support of school gardens and of increased procurement from local farms; and a monarch butterfly recovery program, which partners us with school garden coordinators, farmers, and public land managers to create habitat for monarchs and other pollinators.  

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Project 2

Our fellow will contribute to outreach and coordination of the RCD’s various forest conservation projects, which focus on improving Sonoma County’s forestland health and resilience to wildfire as well as rural home wildfire defensible space. We partner extensively with local, state and federal partners and funders to bring resources to Sonoma County’s forestland managers. Our fellow will provide essential help in connecting land managers with these resources. Forest health and climate resilience are strongly linked. Forests provide myriad ecosystem services including carbon sequestration. Managing forests can reduce future wildfire behavior and result in lowered emissions in a wildfire event. 

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Capacity Building Projects

 

Project 1 

Gold Ridge RCD is requesting a GrizzlyCorps Fellow to assist staff in the implementation of several integrated programs, which collectively work to support school garden programs, develop relationships between schools and local farms, and create and enhance habitat on both farms and schools for pollinators, including the imperiled monarch butterfly. Specific roles will include:

 

  1. Capacity building of school garden programs. The GrizzlyCorps Fellow will support the Sonoma County School Garden Network (SGN) Farm-to-School Coordinator to provide technical support to schools to support school garden programs. This will include professional development workshops for educators and garden coordinators, administration of mini-grants to schools to provide garden supplies like irrigation materials and curated grow kits of seasonal plants, and state-aligned curricular resources integrated with garden and nutrition education. Additionally, the GrizzlyCorps Fellow will assist the Coordinator to initiate Garden Kitchens at partner schools that will allow school garden staff and SGN staff to easily cook with fresh harvests, providing demonstrations and taste testing opportunities to youth and educators to encourage appreciation for fresh, seasonal produce and its culinary uses.

 

  1. Farm field trips. The GrizzlyCorps Fellow will support RCD staff in offering farm field trips for classrooms, through an interdisciplinary and comprehensive county-wide program designed to inspire our youth and community to explore the agricultural lands of Sonoma County. 

 

  1. Monarch and pollinator recovery. The GrizzlyCorps Fellow will assist staff of the RCD, School Garden Network, and Laguna de Santa Rosa Foundation in planning, implementing, and monitoring recovery efforts for monarch butterflies and other pollinators, through habitat plantings in school gardens, on farms, and on public lands. The Fellow will also assist in milkweed and nectar plant propagation at Laguna Foundation’s native plant nursery, located four miles from the Gold Ridge RCD office. 

 

Project 2 

  • The “Building Fire Resiliency in California’s Coast Range Forests and Grasslands” Project focuses on planning and implementing fire resiliency practices on privately owned forestlands and grasslands across the North Bay Area. For this project, the fellow will support outreach efforts, tracking landowner engagement and participation and coordinate between the funder and RCD staff.

  • The North Bay Forest Improvement Program provides public funds to support private investment in forest health and resilience projects; reducing vegetative fuel loads and risks of wildfire, insect infestation, and disease epidemics on private properties in the North Bay’s diverse and valuable forestlands. The fellow will support outreach efforts and track landowner engagement and participation.

  • The Safer West County Defensible Space Project supports rural landowners in creating and maintaining wildfire defensible space around their homes and roads through incentive payments on landscaping work and free access to community chippers as well as educational demonstrations. The fellow will support outreach and process landowner applications to the project in partnership with the project manager.

  • The Sonoma County Forest Conservation Working Group is a robust social network of forest landowners, land managers, foresters, land trusts, watershed councils, non-profits, government agencies, researchers and educators. The fellow will support the Working Group’s public meetings, workshops and field trips.

  • General Technical Assistance to Forestland Managers: The fellow will support the RCD’s mission to provide general technical assistance to forestland managers by conduct outreach on forest management programming, coordinating landowner requests for technical assistance, providing landowner application support to grant programs, tracking and analyzing engagement for trends and gaps, and supporting improvements in overall outreach strategy.

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Organizational & Community Highlights

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The Gold Ridge RCD is located outside of the small towns of Sebastopol and Graton.  We have 10 experienced, kind, and thoughtful staff. Our office is in an old farmhouse situated on an orchard and vineyard property down a gravel road. There is not regular public transportation to our office, but many staff enjoy biking to work. A Fellow placed with us will have a great opportunity to network with not only dozens of different community organizations but many professional individuals and community members as well. Sonoma County is beautiful with a great need to improve engagement with underserved populations and innovative land managers.

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