Overview
The Land Trust of Napa County (LTNC) is a nonprofit dedicated to preserving the character of Napa by permanently protecting land. In its 49-year history, LTNC has protected 96,000 acres—18% of the county.
The Land Trust offices are located in the City of Napa, near downtown. We offer competitive salaries, paid vacation and sick time, health, dental, and vision insurance, retirement benefits, and family-friendly policies. Our team consists of motivated and passionate individuals who care deeply about our mission and enjoy working together.
Position Summary
The Stewardship Program Assistant is a position within LTNC’s Lands Department, designed to assist with stewardship activities across 26 protected natural areas (22,000 acres) owned by our organization.
The Stewardship Program Assistant reports to the Senior Stewardship Program Manager and works as part of the Stewardship Program team.
Primary Responsibilities
Assist with:
- All-season field monitoring of preserve lands by vehicle and on foot
- Maintenance and repair of infrastructure on Land Trust preserves
- Procurement, organization, maintenance, and repair of land stewardship equipment and supplies
- Collecting, recording, organizing, and communicating field notes and observations related to stewardship projects, tasks, and activities
- Administrative tasks related to tracking hours, completing timecards, submitting expense reports, and participating in staff meetings.
Specific Tasks:
- All-season monitoring of preserve lands, including accessing backcountry areas on foot when vehicle access is limited (e.g., during rainy season). Monitoring includes project sites, roads, trails, trailhead areas, boundaries, signage, structures, fences, gates, cameras, and water systems.
- Trail maintenance, including both vegetation management and technical tread work
- Public access infrastructure installation, maintenance, and repair, including kiosks, signage, and parking areas
- Clearing entry points, roads, and trails, and project sites of downed trees and branches using chainsaws; felling of small diameter trees, and pole saw pruning
- Power and hand tool maintenance and repair
- Tracking and facilitating vehicle maintenance and repair
- Vehicle supplies procurement, stocking, and organization
- General stewardship equipment and supplies procurement and organization
- On-site contractor coordination
- Storage space organization and inventory
- Fence, gate, and lock maintenance and repair
- Mowing and weed whacking
- Field collection and transfer of spatially referenced information relating to project sites and preserve activities (GPS/GIS)
- Entering field observations and project/site tracking notes into centralized database
- Wildlife camera field maintenance and data transfer
- Wildlife camera data processing (cataloguing)
- Invasive plant species removal using manual and mechanical methods
- Other duties as assigned
Work Environment & Physical Demands
Work Environment:
In addition to working within an office environment, this position requires a significant fieldwork component. On average, we expect this position will spend 75% of the time in the field. Fieldwork entails exposure to variable weather conditions and natural hazards, such as poison oak, ticks, rattlesnakes, and other wildlife etc.
Physical Demands:
Carry out stewardship tasks in remote wildland areas involving off-trail hiking over rugged terrain and through dense vegetation. Lift and maneuver materials and equipment weighing up to 50 lbs.
Qualifications
Required:
- At least two years of relevant experience working in a similar field-based position
- Ability to do physically demanding work
- Strong written and verbal communication skills
- High level of comfort and competency in safely accessing and working in remote, rugged wildland areas
- Proficiency with safe chainsaw use & maintenance. B-level chainsaw certification or higher preferred.
- Familiarity with hiking trail design standards, and experience maintaining and repairing trail tread using best management practices
- Experience and demonstrated proficiency driving on wildland roads requiring 4WD and high clearance
- Ability to troubleshoot, repair, and complete regular maintenance on tools and preserve infrastructure
- Excellent attention to detail.
- Willingness to attend evening and weekend meetings, workdays, and field trips with volunteers.
Preferred:
- Experience collecting spatially-referenced monitoring, project tracking, and general field note information on mobile devices using ArcGIS Field Maps and Avenza
- Basic carpentry skills for building and installing preserve infrastructure such as trailhead kiosks
- Previous work on invasive exotic plant species management
- Experience with field maintenance of motion-activated wildlife cameras
- Demonstrated knowledge of the natural history of the western United States (natural systems, native flora and fauna)
Compensation & Benefits
Salary is based on candidate qualifications and experience. The salary range for this position is $47,000-$57,000/yr: full employee benefits and retirement plan.
To Apply
Send cover letter and resume to Dr. Tosha Comendant (tosha@napalandtrust.org). No photographs or phone calls, please. Please reference Stewardship Program Assistant 2025 in your Subject line. Applications will be accepted through Monday, July 21, 2025, and interviews will be conducted late July to early August of 2025.
