State Uplands Deputy Supervisor, Exempt

State Uplands Deputy Supervisor

Recruitment #
Full-time, Exempt 5, Non-represented
Location: Natural Resources Building
- Olympia, WA
Work Hours and Partial Telework flexibility may be available and considered
Relocation Compensation may be available and considered
Salary: $11,933.00 - $14,650.00 Monthly

Want to join something GREAT and make a difference? The Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) protects Washington State’s heritage of natural resources by sustainably managing millions of acres of state lands in forests, under the sea and across agricultural plains. DNR has an annual operating budget of approximately $245 million and has over 1300 permanent employees with approximately 500 additional staff hired during the summer fire season.

Each year, state trust forest, range, commercial, agricultural and aquatic lands generate more than $300 million for public schools, state institutions, county services and aquatic restoration. As stewards of these lands, DNR manages them to also provide the state with fish and wildlife habitat, clean and abundant water and public access to outdoor recreation.

DNR also:

• Protects forest lands and communities against wildfire using wildland firefighting crews and aviation resources, collaborative forest health efforts and community preparedness assistance
• Manages the state’s most precious natural areas
  • Administers state forest practices rules
• Monitors geologic hazards and regulates the reclamation of surface mines
• Washington’s public landscapes are a legacy that provides Washington State citizens with enormous environmental, recreation and economic benefit.
• About the Department

Trust Lands

At statehood in 1889, Congress granted Washington millions of acres of land to support public institutions such as funding the construction of public K-12 grade schools statewide, state universities, other state educational institutions, and prisons. Today, DNR manages 3 million acres of these federally granted trust lands to provide a continuous flow of revenue to beneficiaries through revenue producing activities such as:

• Harvesting timber, biomass byproducts, and other forest products
• Leasing lands for agricultural purposes, such as orchards and vineyards, irrigated agriculture, dryland crops, and grazing
• Leasing communications sites, mining and mineral leases, wind farms and energy production, commercial properties, and rights of way.

In addition to earning income, activities on trust lands are managed to protect habitat for native plant and animal species, provide clean and abundant water, and offer diverse public recreation opportunities. As a trust land manager, DNR is obligated to follow the common law duties of a trustee, which include generating revenue, managing trust assets prudently and acting with undivided loyalty to trust beneficiaries.

Forest Lands

DNR manages hundreds of thousands of acres of state forest lands that help fund services in many counties and contribute to the state General Fund-earmarked for education. About 546,000 acres are State Forest Transfer trust lands that were acquired by 21 counties in the 1920s and 1930s through tax foreclosures. Unable to manage these mostly harvested and abandoned lands, counties deeded them to the state to manage as trust lands.

In exchange, the county and the taxing districts in which the land is located are given most of the revenue from timber sales and other revenue-producing activities. These lands are managed in a manner similar to the federally granted trust lands. An additional 80,000 acres are State Forest Purchase trust lands—chiefly, they are valuable forest lands either purchased by the state or acquired as a gift.

Community Forests

As Washington’s population grows, more suburban development occurs in previously forested areas. When lands are converted from forestry, the state loses the vital benefits that forests provide in the ecosystem‑wildlife habitat, clean water for people and salmon, recreation, clean air, and carbon storage. Conversion also puts local natural resource‑based industries and jobs at risk, along with the ecological, economic, and social values these forests provide to the…