Q&A: Land protection team member expands role at SRT
Currents recently interviewed Gregory Liebau who joined SRT in 2021 to get his views on land protection efforts underway by the organization. Liebau was promoted to Land Protection Project Manager earlier this fall. The following has been edited for brevity.
CURRENTS: Please tell our readers about your new position, your new priorities, etc.
GREGORY LIEBAU: My new position title is Land Protection Program Manager. The job description is based on a mixture of responsibilities that I necessarily took up after recent personnel changes in the Land Protection department, as well as some additional functions that the department and SRT as an organization are poised to begin addressing in the coming years. Some of the old duties include managing the existing portfolio of conservation easements that SRT holds throughout the San Joaquin Valley and Sierra Nevada foothills, as well as providing GIS cartographic information and data logging and analysis in relation to existing and upcoming projects. New responsibilities emphasize my role in project development, such as writing grant proposals and maintaining relationships with partnering organizations and agencies, as well as more direct involvement in land acquisition processes that were previously accomplished completely by the Director of Land Protection.
As the Land Stewardship Associate, I spent my first two years at SRT learning about the organization’s conservation and land protection programs, built relationships with existing easement landowners, and spent time visiting their unique properties during annual monitoring visits. Under the direction of two different program directors (Jeff Powers and Courtney Barnes) I learned how my skills and knowledge of the local landscape could be used to accomplish what were primarily routine tasks. The Land Protection Program Manager position still has me working in this realm, although I will step back from much of the field work such as easement monitoring, reporting, and file-keeping, and instead focus more on project development and implementation.
CURRENTS: How does this new role serve SRT's important goal of gaining an additional 20,000 protected acres by...2030 was it?
GL: An area of responsibility that is emphasized for the Land Protection Program Manager role is to help develop projects that will lead to additional land being conserved in SRT’s core region, which covers most of the San Joaquin Valley and southern Sierra Nevada foothills.
A recent emphasis on strategic planning has SRT entering a new chapter of land conservation work, with a desire to locate and protect the most valuable remnants of natural and working lands throughout our core region, and to promote land repurposing goals associated with the implementation of the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act (SGMA). An array of properties across the landscape have conservation values that are beneficial for a variety of reasons, including agricultural productivity, habitat connectivity, and educational opportunities. As an organization, SRT has taken up the monumental task of trying to conserve as many of these places as possible for the sake of current and future generations, in alignment with regional and statewide goals to address issues including climate resilience, food security, and social justice. The responsibilities assigned to the Land Protection Program Manager are critical in making these projects a reality. After potential sites are identified, establishing relationships with landowners, and researching applicable funding sources for acquiring easements or fee-title ownership to accomplish conservation goals are important tasks. SRT also engages with many other local organizations and agencies working on issues such as water sustainability and public education, and community outreach and engagement is fundamental to recognize and maintain a healthy and balanced landscape that provides ecological benefits and economic opportunities. I am fortunate enough to be able to contribute to all of these processes in my new position.
CURRENTS: Tell readers about your current course of study (Johns Hopkins, was it?). Degree and career goals? How might this educational attainment serve SRT's mission?
GL: In December I will graduate from Johns Hopkins University with a Master of Arts degree in Cultural Heritage Management. The curriculum emphasizes the management of cultural resources ranging from historic city districts to ancient monuments to intangible heritage such as the artistic skills and ceremonies of indigenous peoples. Following from principles developed by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and agencies such as the U.S. National Park Service, the program is taught by experts who instruct students vis-à-vis their professional experiences. For example, I learned about US cultural resource laws and regulations from a former NPS Chief Archaeologist, and about intangible heritage from a public folklorist who manages collections at the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage in Washington, D.C. The classes are mostly remote except for a required onsite seminar, which led me and a dozen other students and faculty this past summer to Modena, Italy, where we discovered how local heritage resources, ranging from a medieval UNESCO World Heritage Site to the Enzo Ferrari Museum, are preserved and managed.
When I describe the CHM program to fellow conservationists, questions about application inevitably arise. Although natural resources are recognized as part of our cultural legacy (particularly here in the United States) and are specifically explored in some course materials, highlighting those learning experiences has not been what I find most pertinent about the education for my current work.
Every class in the program emphasizes the human interactions necessary to conserve what societies consider important for present and future generations. In that regard, the work required to protect a pyramid is no different than what is necessary to draft a conservation easement – both scenarios require patience, understanding, and an ability to negotiate the diverse interests and concerns of stakeholders and communities. Despite an emphasis on natural resources, SRT’s core region is also very much a cultural landscape, where we find a mixture of developed urban areas, intensive agriculture, rangeland, and natural spaces. The lessons I have learned at Johns Hopkins about creating inclusive and sustainable projects that can provide balanced social, economic, cultural, and environmental benefits has provided powerful tools for me to use in the role of Land Protection Program Manager.
CURRENTS: How have your interests and SRT's meshed best? Does the new position better enable you to pursue those interests?
GL: My first job in natural resources was maintaining a beautiful trail along the Kings River near Reedley. I worked peacefully under the riparian canopy every day enjoying the fresh air and the sounds of the water and admiring native plants and wildlife. That experience stirred a resolve in me to continue engaging and learning about responsible stewardship of the land. Although in many ways I consider that humble beginning to be the most perfect job I’ve ever had, as the Land Protection Program Manager for SRT I have been provided with an opportunity to help protect even more valuable land that can inspire future generations of conservationists in much the same way.
As a measure of professional development there is no question that my new role will help maximize the value of my work in land conservation, but to suggest that sitting in strategic meetings and discussing land transactions is something I’m passionate about would be false. The diligent efforts that SRT’s land protection and conservation departments engage in to protect natural and working lands is a means to an end – that being the perpetual management of conservation values such as agricultural productivity and critical habitat. Witnessing and interacting with those values on the landscape are what I am passionate about and precisely what motivates me to continue working each day as part of the great team at SRT.
CURRENTS: What are your favorite aspects of your work with SRT, and with what aspects of SRT's mission do you most keenly connect, in terms of your personal interests and values?
GL: What is easily the most rewarding aspect of working with SRT is the people. Every staff member is passionate and engaged, and although we fulfill a diverse (and often disparate) set of roles ranging from education to finance to land protection, there is a spirit of camaraderie that permeates the organization which I feel very fortunate to be part of. Further interactions with our board of directors, event volunteers, and partners at other organizations and agencies brings home to me the fact that although in many ways land conservation feel like a challenging uphill battle, there is an incredible community of people dedicated to the altruistic goals of this work. Although I have preferences about what kind of duties I like to engage in on a regular basis, any contributions that I can make to the conservation movement are rewarding.
As a lifelong resident of the San Joaquin Valley and an enthusiastic birdwatcher, I am particularly keen on expanding SRT’s role as a mediator in response to inevitable changes that will occur across the valley in response to compliance with the Sustainable Groundwater Management Act. Many productive agricultural areas serve as critical habitats for migrating shorebirds and raptors, and mitigating threats to this productivity must also account for consequences for these species.
CURRENTS: What are your near- and long-term goals with regard to the new position?
GL: The Land Protection Department at SRT plans to develop its regional conservation strategy dramatically over the coming years to rise to the challenge of protecting an additional 20,000 acres by 2030. Next year we expect to expand our team to help maintain our current easement portfolio and begin an outreach campaign focused on recognized conservation needs, and to bring what we consider to be some keystone projects to fruition. Whether I am contemplating what work needs to be done tomorrow or sometime over the horizon of my mind’s eye, I only hope to further contribute to the cause.