North Coast Land Conservancy is happy to welcome Amy Hutmacher to our staff. Hutmacher will serve as NCLC’s Conservation Assistant, providing support to both NCLC’s conservation and land stewardship programs.
“It’s exciting that there is so much opportunity for land conservation on the Oregon coast right now,” observes NCLC Executive Director Katie Voelke, “But our current staff were finding it challenging to keep up with all the work that needed to get done.”
Each acquisition or easment requires a significant documentation and paperwork. Then, once NCLC has committed to being the stewards of a piece of land forever, it means creating management plans, doing annual site visits, possible invasive plant removal and much more.
“We knew we needed someone with diverse technical skills who wasn’t afraid to get out on the land and get dirty,” recalls Voelke. “Amy was exactly what we were looking for.”
New conservation assistant Amy Hutmacher works on a site monitoring report at an NCLC property in Cannon Beach.
Hutmacher grew up in Alaska, and focused on Environmental Studies for her undergraduate work at the University of the Pacific. She then completed her graduate studies at Arizona State, where she explored the unique riparian habitats found along southwestern seasonal creeks and streams. An opportunity to work with the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife brought her to Newport on the Oregon coast, and the chance to merge her ecology background with land conservation work has now led her further up the coast to NCLC’s Seaside office.
“It’s so great to have Amy join our stewardship team,” enthuses NCLC Stewardship Director Melissa Reich. “Not only is she fun to work with, she’s going to make it possible for us to get through all of our site monitoring and easement reports this year.”
Wading through dense, shoulder high slough sedge on a property site visit in Cannon Beach during her first week of work, Hutmacher is already experiencing some of the challenges faced by conservation and stewardship work on the Oregon coast.
She smiles when asked how her new job is working out. “It’s only been a few days, and it’s a little overwhelming at times,” she says, “but so far, I love it.”
Please join us in welcoming Amy Hutmacher to North Coast Land Conservancy!
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