Volunteers and Easement Monitoring: Can it Work for You?

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1 Volunteers and Easement Monitoring: Can it Work for You? Saving Special Places April 8, 2017 Deborah Goard Easement Stewardship Director SELT

2 Things to Ponder over the Next Hour (and probably for years to come!) What are the characteristics of your conservation lands? What are your landowners like? Who are your current volunteers? What types of volunteers do you want to attract? What level of commitment do you expect from volunteers?

3 What We ll Discuss Pros and cons of using volunteers Recruiting volunteers Training volunteers Assigning conservation easements to volunteers Managing volunteers Volunteer retention

4 Pros of Using Volunteers More engagement of volunteers in organization or with the Town Cheaper than a paid staff person Can use a volunteer to manage volunteers More conservation easement ground visits in a year

5 Cons of Using Volunteers Less direct engagement with landowner Cost of buying lots of equipment Cost of using volunteers paid staff to manage Difficulty of keeping trained volunteers or recruiting new ones

6 Cons of Using Volunteers Quality of monitoring report Less detail in monitoring reports Potential for subjective comments Probably not sent to landowners Staff site walk description Volunteer site walk description

7 Recruiting Volunteers Advertise Newsletters Local Newspapers Website Ask specific people Ask people for references Board members Current Volunteers Town employees

8 Recruiting Volunteers Tips Don t over advertise May end up with unqualified applicants Be very specific about requirements Time commitments Physical requirements No aversion to bugs and poison ivy

9 Training Volunteers Objective vs. Subjective Time Commitment Indoor vs. Outdoor Training manual Certified Monitors Retraining/refresher courses

10 Technology Training Volunteers

11 Training Volunteers Resources for help Partner with other Land Trust staff New England Stewardship Network Land Trust Alliance

12 Assigning Conservation Easements to Volunteers How to choose suitable lands for volunteers Communicating your expectations for monitoring Getting what you need from volunteers

13 Choosing suitable lands Physical properties of land Human Relationships Level of land management Complexity of CE terms Ability/Experience/Quality of monitor

14 Size Choosing suitable lands Physical Properties Marked boundaries Trails present Terrain Accessibility to property

15 Choosing suitable lands Human Relationships Easy vs difficult landowner History of past or ongoing violations Problems with abutters

16 Choosing suitable lands Level of Land Management Level of land management

17 Choosing suitable lands Complexity of CE terms Basic CE terms regarding forestry and agricultural uses NRCS ALE easements Several Reserved Rights

18 Choosing suitable lands Ability/Experience/Quality of the Volunteer Natural Resource Professional Experienced outdoorsman Personality

19 Choosing Suitable Lands Ranking Properties

20 Communicating Expectations for Monitoring Landowner Relations Role/Lack of role in enforcement of easement terms

21 Getting what you need from the Volunteers Physical Visits Content of Monitoring Reports Timeliness of Monitoring Reports LTA Standards & Practices 11C2.b. Promptly document the annual monitoring activities for each conservation easement

22 Volunteer Management Tracking Monitoring and Time Sending out postcard Timing when they go out Notifying landowner of visit Reviewing reports Follow up with landowners

23 Volunteer Management Field packets Binders, folders, files Electronic vs paper Technology When to you it Who pays Time commitment for staff

24 Volunteer Management Getting what you need Can you really fire a volunteer? Can you tell them they need to do better or they will stop monitoring?

25 Volunteer Retention Volunteer appreciation Potlucks/dinners Personalized thank you cards Small gifts of appreciation Recognition & Awards

26 Review & Wrap up There is no one right way! You need to do what s right for your organization and landscape Pros and cons of using volunteers Recruiting volunteers Training volunteers Assigning conservation easements to volunteers Managing volunteers Volunteer retention

27 Questions?