East & West Kauai Soil & Water Conservation Districts

Conservation Specialist

Pay Rate: $23 (Starting)

Position Information: 

Up to 40 hours per week.

Position dependent upon funding

Includes formal, informal, and/or on-the-job training

Interisland travel may be needed

Location: USDA-NRCS Lihue Field Office/SWCD Office

4334 Rice St., Ste 101A

Lihue, HI 96766

Purpose of Position: This position serves under the supervision of the East & West Kauai SWCD’s District Manager (DM), Employee Managing Directors (EMD) and Chairpersons and will also assist with the NRCS workload as needed. The Conservation Specialist position focuses on providing technical assistance to the Kauai community through providing education on conservation practices and the development of conservation plans that will help land owners and operators with planning and technical information regarding practices implementation for their sites. This position also participates in outreach and educational events throughout the year and is responsible for working with the HACD Conservation Specialist with annual youth contests.

Background: East & West Kauai Soil and Water Conservation Districts (SWCDs) use technical, financial, and educational resources to help local land users conserve soil, water, and related resources. Kauai’s SWCDs are also involved in a variety of additional activities such as erosion control plan reviews and development, reviewing and approving conservation plans in partnership with the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), supporting farmers, ranchers, and forest managers in their effort to obtain government funding for installing conservation practices, wildlife habitat preservation, and conservation education. Kauai SWCDs are a local connection in building partnerships between the Kauai Community and local, state and national entities and agencies. East Kauai & West Kauai are two of 16 Hawaii Conservation districts that are a part of Hawaii Association of Conservation Districts (HACD). Each of the 16 Hawaii SWCD’s are governed by an unpaid board of five directors—three elected by agricultural land occupiers and two appointed by the Department of Land and Natural Resources. www.kauaiswcd.org

HACD is a statewide organization of the 16 soil and water conservation districts in Hawaii, and was created to support and promote natural resource conservation statewide. http://dlnr.hawaii.gov/swcd/

The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) is one of the Conservation Districts’ main conservation partners and is a technical resource agency. Cooperative agreements between NRCS and the SWCDs enables the two agencies to work closely together and frequently share workload and outreach.

This position is currently funded through different grants including from the County of Kauai to assist with management and technical support for all conservation efforts by East & West Kauai SWCDs. Additional funding will come through any grants or projects that the Kauai SWCDs apply for and successfully receive.

MAJOR DUTIES

• Apply principles from different disciplines including natural resource management, soil science, agriculture, biology, archeology, and others to achieve natural resources conservation objectives.
• Develop Conservation Plans with SWCD cooperators for the County of Kauai Sediment and Erosion Control Ordinance 808 and Hawaii Revised Statutes (HRS) Chapter 342 D&E. Prepare documents and assist the cooperators with presentation of plans at the Kauai SWCD board meetings.
• Prepares conservation plans and associated documents in cooperation with SWCDs, NRCS and other governmental agencies to provide technical assistance to cooperators. Provides assistance including relevant paperwork, field surveys, soil sampling, site evaluations and other field work for identifying resource concerns. Additionally, completes environmental compliance reviews as a requirement for conservation plans including working with State Historic Preservation Division (SHPD) and Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) when needed.
• Confers and assists the SWCDs in the development, coordination, and implementation of programs dealing with soil, water, air, plant and animal resources, which may require presentation to the district cooperators, farmers, landowners and/or general public. This includes working with NRCS in developing conservation plans and contracts for USDA Farm Bill programs applications including Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP), Agricultural Management Assistance (AMA) and Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP)
• Provides information regarding resources, expert contacts, and other organizations to the community and cooperators when needed.
• Assists with updates to website, social media, and advertising events and meetings. Collect Cooperative Agreements with potential cooperators in the agricultural community.
• Assists with other SWCD employees and NRCS in developing needed brochures and other outreach information; and assist with development of visual displays for local meetings, conferences, etc. Assists with outreach events to promote SWCD, NRCS and other partner programs and assistance. Represent the SWCDs and provide presentations at outreach and education events SWCDs and NRCS host or are participants in.  
• With the HACD Conservation Specialists, execution of youth contests including the Conservation Awareness Program (CAP) Contest and the Poster Contest. As well as identification and implementation of associated outreach and education needs.
• Communicate with District Manager and the Kauai SWCD Boards regarding actions taken and progress on planning. Assist DM to identify trends in conservation work and needs to help identify opportunities and projects the boards may choose to participate in.
• Maintain knowledge of county, state and federal laws, legal requirements, and government regulations affecting soil and water conservation functions and ensures projects are in compliance.
• Ability to cultivate and maintain working relationships with cooperators, governmental agencies, community groups, National and local partners, and any other groups or individuals within the Districts.
• Provides monthly reports at the East Kauai & West Kauai SWCD meetings on progress and updates relevant to position and tasks. Provide information and articles for the Kauai SWCD annual report.
• Perform related duties as deemed necessary by the District Manager, Employee Managing Directors and Kauai SWCD Boards.

Supervisory Responsibilities

This position does not have any supervisory responsibilities

Supervision

Administrative, SWCD planning/outreach/project supervision, workload, and employee management will be provided by the District Manager, Kauai SWCD Boards and designated Employee Management Directors. Technical training, NRCS planning/contract management, and workspace supervision will be provided by USDA-NRCS Lihue Field Office District Conservationist. In regards to utilizing the workspace, staff follow USDA-NRCS workspace use policies including but not limited to dress code, conduct, and safety.

Safety and Health: Performs duties in a supportive manner of a safe and healthy work environment. The employee exercises caution and maintains all safety requirements when exposed to dangerous objects, chemicals, and extreme temperatures.

Condition of Employment: Must possess and maintain a valid State of Hawaii Class 3 Driver’s License within 30 days of start date.  This is required in order to operate a motor vehicle on public and private roads during daylight hours and occasionally after dark.

This position is contingent upon passing a background investigation and security clearance through USDA. The USDA provided security packet includes, but is not limited to, the following: a questionnaire for non-sensitive positions, signing a Fair-Credit Release form, submitting fingerprints, and any other forms the USDA deems necessary to complete the security clearance. This position does not pay for relocation. 

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

A combination of education and experience substantially equivalent to:

Graduation from an accredited college or university with a bachelor’s degree in Agriculture, Environmental Science, Natural Resource Management, or other related field (transcripts will be requested at a later time); or two (2) years of professional experience and/or relevant training; or equivalent combination of education and experience.

The ideal candidate for Conservation Specialist is a self-motivated, creative, and positive individual. The person will be able to take the time to participate in trainings and take the initiative in their education process in working towards planner certification. The person will be a team player and have a desire to work with the community and agricultural cooperators. They will be able to represent the districts professionally when working with partners, cooperators, landowners and the community. This person will successfully be able to navigate within a constantly changing environment and be able to be flexible when the situation and workload needs it.

KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS REQUIRED BY THE POSITION

• Participate in training and education to obtain planner certification one by the end of the first year and planner certification three by end of year two.
• Knowledge of local, state and federal programs and laws with a focus on local conservation, agriculture, natural resources management, and educational activities performed by the Kauai SWCDs
• Excellent Oral and Written communications skills. Ability to work effectively with cooperators, the community, and partners. Ability to represent the Kauai SWCDs at functions including public outreach events, meetings with local, state and federal governments, trainings, and conferences.
• Ability to read, analyze, and interpret common scientific and technical literature, and legal documents. Ability to respond to common inquiries from customers, regulatory agencies, or members of the business community. Ability to write articles for publication that conform to prescribed style and format. Ability to effectively present information in public settings. Ability to communicate with clients whose first language is not English.
• Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts, and draw valid conclusions. Ability to interpret technical instructions in mathematical or diagram form, sometimes involving several variables.
• Skill in operating personal computers, related software, hardware, and printing equipment in order to create and generate reports, to locate and extract electronic files from the Internet and other electronic sources, and to format information for electronic dissemination. This includes knowledge of and skill in using Microsoft software such as Access, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams, and Word. This position requires learning or knowledge of ArcGIS and Adobe tools and software. Incumbent will also learn to use agency specific software, SharePoint, Web Soil Survey, and other web-based tools.
• Knowledge of Social Media applications. Knowledge of remote conferencing programs including ZOOM and Teams.
• Employee will continue to improve knowledge of various and changing Kauai County Ordinances, State of Hawaii Sunshine Law requirements, USDA Farm Bill programs, and other policies that may affect SWCDs and SWCD employees.

PHYSICAL DEMANDS

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this position, the employee is regularly required to stand; walk; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; and talk and hear. The employee is frequently required to sit; reach with hands and arms; climb or balance and stoop, kneel, crouch, or crawl. Specific vision abilities required by this job include close vision, distance vision, color vision, peripheral vision, depth perception and ability to adjust focus. Must be able to perform fieldwork which may include: dust, changes in temperature, high altitudes, and occasional inclement weather with wet conditions. Must also be able to walk a minimum of 3 miles consecutively, able to swim, able to lift and carry 30 pounds. Able to walk in a muddy field, inclines, and on slippery surfaces. The employee is required to perform repetitive work involving the use of arms and hands. Use of a computer keyboard is required.

PERSONAL CONTACTS

Potential contacts include SWCD Directors, SWCD employees, Governmental agencies, Community members, cooperators, landowners, Partner staff and managers, HACD Staff, HACD Executive Director and Executive Board, Elected officials, NRCS field office employees, NRCS Area and State Office employees, and staff from other agencies.

WORK ENVIRONMENT

The work environment characteristics described here are representatives of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodation may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

While performing the duties of this Job, the employee is occasionally exposed to wet and/or humid conditions; outside weather conditions; extreme cold; extreme heat and vibration. The noise level in the work environment is usually moderate.

The work performed is a combination of field and office work, with about 70 to 80% being computer work. This position may require a hybrid of telework and work in the workspace. Once a permanent office is obtained, most of the work will be in office.

MAIL, OR EMAIL, RESUME TO:

East & West Kauai SWCDs

PO BOX 3636

Lihue, HI  96766

HACDdistrictmanager@gmail.com