Mountain Longleaf Prescribed Burn Association Coordinator/Berry College Liaison

Mountain Longleaf Prescribed Burn Association Coordinator/Berry College Liaison

This term position will include improving upon previous outreach efforts and establish a successful Prescribed Burn Association (PBA) in the Ridge and Valley region of Alabama and Georgia. Utilizing the PBA to conduct prescribed fires, hosting training and workshops, and working with partners to provide technical assistance will be key to seeing success in this region. Similarly, this position will assist Berry College students in fire training, prescribed fire and other land management applications.

Focus counties: Alabama: Calhoun, Cherokee, Cleburne, Etowah, Shelby, St. Clair, and Talladega. Georgia: Bartow, Carroll, Chattooga, Floyd, Gordon, Haralson, Paulding, and Polk.

Duties:

• Formalizes and acts as a full-time coordinator of Mountain Longleaf Prescribed Burn Association.
• Works closely with Board of the Association and other partners (to include Tall Timbers Geospatial Lab) to coordinate and ensure prioritization and safe execution of prescribed burns on private land within the Association.
• Uses Burn Association to facilitate fire use, pool risk to create cost-effective insurance coverage and annually plan burns to mitigate smoke emissions and ameliorate limited workforce capacity.
• Leads the effort to create communication and collaboration with private land participants within the Association through regular landowner site visits and facilitating quarterly outreach and/or training workshops.
• Oversees local extension and outreach services to private landowners, agencies and public land managers through weekly landowner visits, quarterly workshops and participation in conferences and the Alabama Prescribed Fire Council, and North Georgia Prescribed Fire Council meetings.
• Assists with burn implementation as needed as a team member with the Tall Timbers Department of Prescribed Fire Applications.
• Host field days and workshops to demonstrate successes and provide hands-on training. Increase capacity of certified burn managers through facilitating certification training.
• Participates with other regional Tall Timbers outreach and training staff to implement fire or assist in other fire related activities as needed.

25% (some) of the time:

• Facilitates prescribed fire training and mentoring for Berry College students in close cooperation with Berry College staff and faculty.
• Assist in land management activities and serve as a mentee to land management activities at Berry College.
• Work closely with Berry College and Tall Timbers Staff to create a visionary land management training and mentoring program for Berry work study students with an emphasis on the land management needs encountered in the Ridge and Valley and Piedmont regions of Georgia and Alabama
• Coordinate with Berry College staff to develop a Berry College student burn team and/or Society of Fire Ecology (SAFE) chapter creating a conduit connecting students with future jobs in fire management.

Qualifications and experience that will help you succeed:

• Dynamic personality with a demonstrated ability to deliver high quality classroom and field instruction on topics such as fire behavior, operational safety, fire effects, smoke management, fire planning, and fire weather to diverse audiences
• High degree of interpersonal and communication skills, emotional and professional intelligence, self-motivation, creativity, organizational skills and a positive reputation within the fire and/or forestry community.
• Bachelor's degree in natural sciences (Preferred) such as, but not limited to, wildland fire, forestry and/or wildlife management
• Experience participating in and leading prescribed burns is required.
• Alabama or Georgia Certified Prescribed Burn Manager is a plus.
• ALSBRF RF, Georgia Board of Forestry RF, CWB, or CF is a plus.

To apply to this position, submit a resume and cover letter explaining why you are the best applicant for the job to Ryan Mitchell on or before May 15, 2026. Questions to same.