Ecosystem Defense Director Job Desciption

Ecosystem Defense Director Job Description Outline Friends of the Clearwater (FOC) has an active Forest Watch/Ecosystem Defense Program revolving around 1) a place, the north half of the greater Salmon Selway Ecosystem, the Clearwater, Nez Perce, Bitterroot (in Idaho), and southern St. Joe National Forests (with some overlap into surrounding areas of the Payette, Lolo National Forests) and portions of the BLM Coeur d'Alene District and Cottonwood Resource area. FOC has an MOU to deal with integrating areas of overlap with 6 other organizations; and 2) the life, grizzly recovery, forest carnivores, rare fish, and ecological functioning. The ecosystem defense Director would be the point person for FOC on this program. Duties: 1- NEPA and Agency planning processes: Coordinating FOC comments with other groups, FOC volunteers, and FOC Board members on USFS/BLM proposed actions in the area as defined in the MOU. This entails a working knowledge of agency processes and laws including NEPA, NFMA, ESA, and WA. This also entails a love for the land and a willingness to visit these areas. This duty has three sub-facets: a- Coordinating comments on all scoping proposals, EAs, EISs, and other documents, coordinating appeals, and coordinating lawsuits. This also entails coordinating of monitoring on proposed and past projects. b- Working with the media on important issues (issuing press releases, contacting them, and getting follow-up articles). This is most important on appeals and lawsuits. c- Coordinating with the Outreach Director on email or other alerts for letters on important agency documents. Obviously, it is impossible to do an alert for every project. Big projects need mail and email alerts. If the issue is huge, generating public interest through other means is also needed. 2- Proactive Projects and Campaigns: Working proactively on projects like forest plan revision, land exchanges, grizzly recovery, salmon recovery, NFPRA, NREPA, road surveys, and other innovative strategies for wildland restoration and preservation. 3- Strategic Planning: The Ecosystem Defense Director will be the catalyst for FOC in planning strategies and visioning on ecosystem defense and work with volunteers and other organizations. The EDD will also work with other organizations and attorneys on litigation. 4- Media and Communication: In conjunction with the Outreach Director, coordinate/write media releases on important ecosystem defense issues. Be able to speak and communicate with the media on Ecosystem Defense Issues. (see above). Set goals (see below) Media Goals for Forest Watch Director --Have FOC's ecosystem defense maintian its media visibility. We do a lot of things. For example, the FS needs to read in the paper about the appeal we filed to put a bit of pressure on them the next time. --Work with the Outreach Director and coordinate FOC members writing letters to the editor (that should be the FOC board, and other key members), writing comments and appeals. 5- Answering phones while in the office. All of these parts are somewhat interrelated. The ED Director would attend various conferences and meetings with other conservationists, activists, and agency people that deal with aspects of the FW Program. 6- Fundraising The ED Director will be responsible, along with the Outreach Director, to initiative fund-raising activities. This includes grant writing, membership donation and solicitation, and major donor work. 7- Administrative In conjunction with the Outreach Director, the ED Director will have administrative duties such as keeping up the database, communicating with board members, and keeping the books. Needed Skills: An ability to write, speak and communicate effectively with staff of other organizations, volunteers, and the media. An ability to think strategically and an understanding of wildlands and wildland/public land policy. A love of the place. Hours: The schedule will be flexible enough to allow for field visits etc. Since the job has been reduced, 20 office hours every week should be a goal except during the summer filed season. During the summer, office hours may be reduced in order to do field visits, meetings, information collection etc.. During office hours the Director could be expected to assist in fielding phone calls, mail runs, and other office duties as is necessary. Evaluation: Every year the ED Director will fill out a self-evaluation form.