Baxter State Park Hiring for Interpretive Specialist at Maine Full Time

Pay Range 18:  $34,153 – $45,718 annually.  

Baxter State Park, a quasi-state agency preserving and protecting a 209,644-acre wilderness in north-central Maine, seeks an excellent communicator to tell the natural and historical stories of this iconic landscape.  This is a critical position in the Park’s Information and Education Division, which is responsible for natural resource monitoring, visitor information, education and outreach programming, interpretation, and archiving historical information. Through the development of printed materials, digital media, staff training, and program coordination, the position plays a key role in the Park’s efforts to foster a sense of place for interested audiences.  The successful candidate must excel at communicating a narrative of complex ideas to a wide range of audiences, collaborating with staff and colleagues, and possess great passion for Baxter State Park and the Katahdin Region. 

As an independent public trust, donated to the state of Maine by former Governor Percival Baxter for the benefit of the people of Maine, Baxter State Park is a distinctive and special place.  The Park has its own unique governance structure, is self-funded, and boasts an incredible landscape, recognized for its sanctity and power since humans first walked Katahdin’s rugged slopes.  Park staff manage this iconic topography according to Governor Baxter’s wishes as he described them in his Deeds of Trust and other writings, which together shape a complex conservation vision.

Central to the Park’s foundational principles is the directive that opportunities for recreation remain subordinate to the protection of the Park as “Forever Wild”.  The Park’s interpretive philosophy focuses on integrating our unique wilderness concept into place-based education, borrowing from outdoor and environmental education curricula.  Our gentle approach to education aims to foster a connection to nature and allow a sense of personal discovery, with the hope that appreciation follows and inspires a sense of kinship with the natural world.  We seek to balance visitor safety information with enabling visitors to make choices within their tolerance for risk.  As Governor Baxter did not mean for the Park to be a destination for passive entertainment, we offer programming with a very light hand. 

Following Governor Baxter’s wishes, the Park does not advertise to increase visitation but seeks to inform and inspire those already visiting or planning their visit, and more generally, all the residents of Maine as beneficiaries of this trust.  The Interpretive Specialist role is core to the Park’s efforts to reach these audiences through printed materials, digital media, program coordination and training Park staff and seasonal interns. 

• For those planning their visit, informational sources include the Park’s website, social media platforms, the Reservations office in Park headquarters and our on-line reservation site, our Visitor Center at Togue Pond and printed materials offered at Maine Tourism Association Welcome Centers across the state. This position is responsible for content management for the Park’s digital media avenues, printed materials for outreach, and coordinating with Reservation office staff to understand and assist with the informational needs of the thousands of people who call in each year.
• For those already visiting, due to the vast acreage and dispersed use, we rely heavily on passive educational materials such as signs and posters at gates, campgrounds, the Visitor Center, and other recreation sites. Campground Rangers and gate staff are important conduits for visitor contact.  Programming within the Park represents a smaller, but important visitor contact opportunity, and is often performed by interns who are functionally supervised by the interpretive specialist. Alpine stewardship patrols and moose patrols, as well junior ranger programs and thoughtfully placed signage augment the Park’s effort to reach visitors as they recreate.  This position is responsible for the planning, creation, development, dissemination, and coordination of these materials and programs and for leading interpretive training of Park  
• For those nearby the Park and other Maine residents, the interpretive specialist is responsible for the development, coordination, and delivery of passive materials and active school and community programming, particularly during the winter months.