As part of our 46-Member Emergency Response Team (ERT), you will gain experience and training in the fields of environmental stewardship, wildland fire, and disaster response over the course of an 11-month AmeriCorps National Service term. The ERT functions as a conservation corps that assists partner organizations with vital natural resource management and restoration projects, including trail building and maintenance, habitat restoration, invasive species removal, and prescribed burning. The ERT also responds to floods, tornadoes, hurricanes, and other disasters regionally and nationally, when requested.

Members frequently travel for 8-day long, overnight projects across the state.
No prior experience is necessary, and all experience is welcome.

ACSTL provides a challenging and fun opportunity to explore the conservation, fire, and disaster fields; serve the environment and local/state/national community; meet people from different backgrounds; enjoy an outdoor office; earn money for education; and be a part of a supportive, welcoming community.

Service Activities:

Environmental Stewardship: The normal day-to-day side of our program is the environmental stewardship focus area. These projects consist of a wide variety of activities and may include invasive species removal (including herbicide application), glade and habitat restoration, hazard tree removal, trail maintenance and building, and fireline construction for future prescribed burns. 

Wildland Fire: Many of our partner agencies engage in prescribed burning operations when weather allows; most prescribed fire and wildfire activity occurs between February and April in Missouri and Illinois, ACSTL teams are generally engaged in both preparation activities (fireline construction & maintenance, timber stand improvement, glade restoration) and actual firing operations. 

Fire experience is not guaranteed for all Members, but most members do get some experience and everyone gets the training. 

Disaster Response: As an Emergency Response Team, we are able to respond to disasters across the country and locally. However, we only respond to disaster incidents when our assistance is officially requested by the local emergency management entity. This means that even if there is a very large disaster somewhere in the country during the service term, our program does not respond without being requested. Like with fire, we cannot guarantee disaster response experience as every year varies due to weather, timing, and other factors. Therefore, you could potentially spend your entire service year on conservation projects without deploying to a disaster. 

When deployed, there are different types of services you could assist with. including volunteer and donations management, warehousing, database management, call centers, as well as on the more direct service side with debris cleanup, sandbagging, muck n gutting, and hazard tree removal. During a deployment, you could be serving long hours with limited time off.

Qualifications:

• Must be a U.S. citizen, U.S. National, or Lawful Permanent Resident
• At least 18 years old by the program start date
• Have at least a high school diploma or GED
• Must pass National Service criminal history checks, at no cost to the applicant

Physical Health Information: Members must maintain a high level of physical fitness during their 11-month term of service in order to safely carry out the duties required for a manual labor position. A position with ERT requires extensive walking, bending, kneeling, lifting, pushing, stooping, standing, carrying loads of up to 50 lbs, handling hand and power tools, and other physical labor for extended periods of time. Members will serve primarily outdoors, in all kinds of weather (heat, cold, rain, snow, etc). Should accommodations be needed, you will be asked to submit a letter showing you are medically cleared to serve safely with ACSTL. This letter should state recommended accommodations.

Benefits:

• $20,400 living stipend total (paid out bi-weekly)
• $7,395 Education Award after the completion of the program (please see www.americorps.gov for more information)
• Loan deferment and interest forbearance on qualified student loans during term of service
• Health insurance reimbursement, if applicable
• Free mental health support options
• 2-week winter break and 6 national holidays
• Paid Personal Vacation Days and Sick/Mental Health Days
• Discounts for outdoor gear, YMCA Memberships, cell phone plans, public transportation, tax filing, and car insurance available
• Networking and professional development
• U.S. Forest Service Preferential Hiring eligibility through the Public Lands Corps

Training and Certifications:

• S-212 Wildland Fire Chainsaw certification (FAL3 Basic Faller)
• Type II Wildland Firefighter (FFT2)
• Incident Qualification Card (Red Card)
• FEMA Incident Command System
• Psychological First Aid
• First Aid/CPR.