Bull Creek Common Lands
Overview of Organization
Bull Creek Common Lands is a community-focused, land conservation nonprofit, formed in 2021, and based in Windham county. Our mission is to conserve land in and adjacent to the Bull Creek and Grassy Brook watersheds and support public access to the land. Our first project was the Raymond Bemis Community Forest in Athens, VT which opened to the public in August 2023.
Mission Area: Environmental and/or Animal Related
Size of Organization: Less than $250K
Position Overview
It’s exciting times in the land conservation space! With planning underway to implement Vermont’s Act 59, the Community Resilience and Biodiversity Protection Law, that signs on to the global initiative to conserve 30% of land by 2030 and 50% by 2050, it’s a great time to get involved on a community scale to protect the land you love and have a climate-positive impact.
Founded in 2021, Bull Creek Common Lands’ first project was the Raymond Bemis Community Forest in Athens, which opened to the public in August 2023. We are now expanding our board and looking for people of diverse backgrounds who would like to work with us to protect our local lands for public use, biodiversity, climate resilience, carbon storage and their innate, undeveloped value. With a mission to conserve land in and adjacent to the Bull Creek and Grassy Brook watersheds, we cover the towns of Athens, Brookline, Townshend, Grafton, Newfane, Rockingham, and Westminster. We have several focuses to our work: new conservation projects, community outreach and fundraising, outdoor programming, trails and land management, and core organizational functions. BCCL is also collaborating with three other southern Vermont conservation organizations to build capacity across all of Windham County.
We are currently an all volunteer organization with a working board. New board members might possess many of the following interests, abilities and capacity:
- Community and environment focused
- A proactive, entrepreneurial mindset
- Interest to actively work to grow a new organization
- Experience with business start ups, nonprofit boards, strategic planning, budgeting, admin, fundraising, grant writing, community outreach, etc., etc…
- Personal connection with the land (e.g. hiking, naturalist activities, land management or other in-the-woods experience)
- Desire to engage in conversations around conservation, land use, community needs, climate resilience and ecology
- Social and professional connections that can help grow our fundraising base
- Professional communication skills and digital literacy
- Availability for 4-5 hour time investment a month, including one virtual or in person board meeting, and additional work as needed for projects and training opportunities
We’d love to hear what you’d like to contribute and what you’d like to learn! If this opportunity sounds like something you’d like to discuss further, please email Hannah at [email protected] to introduce yourself and make a plan to meet with current board members for a walk or cup of tea.
Desired Skills: General Board Governance, Nonprofit Financials, Fundraising/Development, Legal, Management/Leadership, Marketing/Communications, Strategy/Business Planning
Additional Information
Current # of Board Members: 4
Carries liability insurance?: Yes
Carries D&O liability insurance?: Yes
Time Expectations: 4-8 hours
Meeting Frequency: Once a month
Meeting Location: Windham County
Length of Term (in years): 3
Financial contribution required?: No
Service on committee required?: Yes