Job Opportunity: Land Steward
The Ozaukee Washington Land Trust and River Revitalization Foundation recently merged to become Restoring Lands: A Wisconsin Land Trust. The Restoring Lands mission is to protect, connect, and restore southeast Wisconsin’s lands and waters for the benefit of all. Since 1992, we have worked to conserve and steward the lands and waters of the Milwaukee River Basin. This merger propels our capacity for conservation leadership in Southeastern Wisconsin, expanding our service area and advancing land protection efforts beyond county borders to a science-based, watershed-level approach. Restoring Lands owns and actively manages 38 nature preserves, conserving over 7,000 acres in Ozaukee, Washington, and Milwaukee counties and has two offices: one in West Bend, and one near downtown Milwaukee.

Creating a welcoming and inclusive culture in the conservation sector is a core value at Restoring Lands. We are passionate about building and sustaining an inclusive and equitable environment for all staff and our community. We believe every member on our team enriches our diversity by exposing us to a broad range of ways to understand and engage with the world, identify challenges, and to discover, design and deliver solutions. Through this position, Restoring Lands seeks to take ownership of addressing barriers to conservation by engaging, training, and empowering underrepresented communities in the work of fostering biodiversity, promoting climate resiliency, and enhancing public access to the outdoors.

We are seeking passionate individuals to assist with the stewardship, maintenance, and restoration of our nature preserves. Qualified individuals will demonstrate an enthusiasm to learn and grow skills related to ecological conservation. Utilizing sustainable management techniques and strong initiative, Land Stewards can look forward to getting their hands dirty restoring beautiful forests, prairies, wetlands, and other natural areas within Ozaukee, Washington, and Milwaukee Counties. Based primarily in the field, Land Stewards will work closely with Restoring Lands staff and volunteers to control invasive species, plant native trees/shrubs, conduct prescribed fires, and maintain and improve trails, infrastructure, and access points. Land Stewards will be expected to work in a variety of outdoor conditions and terrain.

The Land Steward position offers exposure to a variety of restoration techniques and the opportunity to work closely with some of the best conservation professionals in Wisconsin. Many past Land Stewards have launched careers in conservation, including five of our full-time team members.

Position: Seasonal full-time (on average 35+ hours/week), 95% field, 5% office
Supervises: Supervision of volunteers (all ages and backgrounds) is required
Duration: 4/1/25 to 12/31/25
Work Week: Weather dependent Monday – Friday, one weekend day per month required