Land Manager

Summary
Oxbow Farm seeks a Land Manager to guide land management on the farm for biodiversity conservation. The goal is to support biodiversity on the farm, with a focus on declining species.

About Oxbow Farm
Oxbow Farm is a private 1,400-acre property owned by Beatrice and Adie von Gontard along the Shenandoah River near Front Royal, Virginia. It is a working farm that produces hay, wheat and small grains and it has an active longhorn cattle pasture. Significant portions of the property are also set aside for conservation, including fields where haying is delayed to allow Bobolinks and other grassland birds to breed. There are a wide range of habitats on the property including native meadows, dry oak forests and savannas, rich bottomland forests, vernal pools, permanent ponds, and the Shenandoah River riparian corridor. Oxbow also hosts conservation researchers from Virginia Working Landscapes, the Smithsonian National Zoo and jobshiringnearme.org Biology Institute, and the Clifton Institute annually.

Duties

• Guide land management across the farm, including production fields, native meadows, savannas, forests, ponds, and wetlands to support declining species.
• Develop a management calendar that lays out objectives and activities for each month. Create a prioritization scheme for invasive plant management throughout the year.
• Plan and lead prescribed burns up to 20 acres in size in meadows and savannas.
• Remove invasive plants with chemical and mechanical methods.
• Guide savanna creation including burning and invasive species removal.
• Manage native meadows to maximize plant and insect diversity.
• Collaborate with farm staff to maintain high yields while minimizing impacts to biodiversity.
• Manage the permanent ponds and vernal pools on the property for biodiversity.
• Coordinate visits by external ecological researchers.
• Manage a biodiversity inventory for the property on iNaturalist.
• Other duties as assigned.

Required Skills

• Significant experience with prescribed fire.
• Experience using herbicides safely (e.g. foliar and basal-bark spraying with backpack sprayers, cut-and-paint, and hack-and-squirt). Comfort using glyphosate, triclopyr, clethodim, aminopyralid, and other low-risk chemicals with appropriate personal protective equipment.
• Experience establishing and maintaining native meadows (e.g. seed mix design, site preparation, planting, mowing)
• Ability to identify common grassland plants and birds in Virginia or ability to quickly translate knowledge of species from another area.
• Proficient with Microsoft Word, Excel, and Powerpoint, as well as Google Sheets and Google Docs.

Preferred Skills

• Bachelor’s degree in environmental science, forestry, biology, or related field.
• Experience as a burn boss. Certified Prescribed Burn Manager in Virginia. Other wildland fire certifications (e.g. S-130).
• Knowledge of pond management (e.g. control of cattails, pond weeds, algae, etc.).
• Experience bushhogging with a tractor.
• Insect identification skills.
• Experience creating or maintaining savannas with forestry mulching or logging.
• Commercial herbicide applicator license in Virginia.
• Chainsaw experience and certification.

Compensation

• This is a full-time 40 hour per week position with a salary of $60,000-$75,000 per year, commensurate with experience.
• Free housing (three-bedroom house or apartment with free utilities at Oxbow Farm).
• We offer competitive medical, dental, life, disability, and retirement benefits.
• Starting at two weeks of paid time off plus 7 public holidays.
• Mileage reimbursement for work-related travel at the current federal rate.