Position Title: Pacific Northwest Community-Led Recreation and Conservation Fellow – AmeriCorps

Conservation Legacy Program: Stewards Individual Placements

Site Location: Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance – Seattle Office

National Park Service, 909 First Ave, Seattle, WA 98104

Terms of Service:

• Start Date: 10/19/2026
• End Date: 10/15/2027
• AmeriCorps Slot Classification: 1700 Hours

Purpose:

Stewards Individual Placements (Stewards), a program of Conservation Legacy, provides individuals with AmeriCorps service and career opportunities to strengthen communities and preserve our natural resources. Participants serve with federal agencies, tribal governments, and nonprofits to provide institutional capacity, develop community relationships, and support ecosystem health. Stewards in partnership with the Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance – Seattle Office will host a Pacific Northwest Community-led Recreation and Conservation Fellow.

NPS Mission

The National Park Service (NPS) preserves unimpaired the natural and cultural resources and values of the National Park System for the enjoyment, education, and inspiration of this and future generations. The National Park Service cooperates with partners to extend the benefits of natural and cultural resource conservation and outdoor recreation throughout this country and the world.

National Park Service – Rivers, Trails, and Conservation Assistance (NPS-RTCA)

The NPS operates programs in communities throughout the nation to connect people across the country to their parks, trails, rivers and other special places. This fellowship position is within the NPS-RTCA program, which helps community groups, nonprofits, state and local government, and tribes plan parks and trails, conserve and improve access to rivers and natural areas, and create recreation opportunities through locally led partnerships. NPS-RTCA assists communities and public land managers in developing or restoring parks, conservation areas, rivers, and wildlife habitats, as well as creating outdoor recreation opportunities and programs that engage future generations in the outdoors.

This Fellow will support community-led recreation and conservation projects across the Pacific Northwest, while also supporting some projects throughout the Pacific West. Our current roster of active projects includes community forest vision planning, organization capacity development, river recreation access, and community outreach and engagement planning for broader recreation and conservation projects. This Fellow will provide support and participate in many of these projects as well as have the opportunity to take on a leadership role in one or more projects.

For this fellowship, service will include working closely with community, organizations supporting existing projects, with the potential for project development and assistance with other project needs across the program should opportunities arise.

Description of Duties:

The Fellow will work to complete tasks and projects outlined below.

1. Provide project support on current NPS-RTCA efforts

a. Assist with facilitating work sessions, research and writing, producing maps, components of reports, and web content, document production, field mapping of resources and infrastructure.

b. Collaborate with supervisor, other RTCA staff, and project partners to develop and implement key interested party and community engagement strategies

c. Participate as part of a team on different stages of planning cycles and report on the project status. Support defining scope, vision, goals, outcomes and determine capacity. Recognize ways to help the project team accomplish objectives.

d. Conduct site visits to collect information about the project site and surrounding areas

e. Gather project ideas from partners, key interested parties, and the public (survey, workshops, design charrettes)

f. Based on partner and public input and results of inventories and analyses, write vision, goal, and objective statements that will help guide the development of project recommendations

g. Communicate project recommendations in text, graphics and verbally as part of a report/planning document that can be used by project partners to move towards project implementation

h. Formulate project recommendations that meet the project vision and goals and reflect partner/community desires and values

i. Project development through working with other programs and groups, and assist new projects or other project managers during the fellowship period. There may be opportunities to assist with the development of new projects.

2. Administration, Training, and Development: Duties will include maintaining

existing files systems and material inventories, meeting administrative requirements for both the NPS and Conservation Legacy, and developing new skills through training and/or job shadowing. There may be opportunities to assist with other program support tasks.

3. Support continued efforts to link NPS-RTCA conservation and outdoor recreation assistance with communities where needs for outdoor recreation and conservation exists

a. Identify Pacific Northwest communities efforts that align with program and agency priorities and list opportunities (and partners) to support locally-led conservation efforts.

b. Collaborate with supervisor, other program staff, and partners to identify information sources, local knowledge partners

c. Synthesize findings of inventories and analyses

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with and knowledge of writing for a variety of audiences and formats
• Experience with and knowledge of the principles of community and/or outdoor recreation planning
• Experience with and knowledge of document production and graphic design programs such as MS Office, Adobe Creative Suite, Canva, Mural, and other communication tools
• Experience with, or knowledge of, mapping tools such as GPS, ArcGIS, StoryMaps

Minimum Qualifications

· A four-year undergraduate degree, ideally in a major/focus area related to planning, policy, geography, landscape architecture, resource management, or other related fields

· If not meeting the desired qualifications, must possess a desire to learn those things

· Willing to travel within the Pacific Northwest for project work, sometimes to remote areas

· United States citizen, United States national, or a lawful permanent resident alien

· At least 17 years of age

· Has received a high school diploma or equivalency certificate; or has not dropped out of elementary or secondary school to enroll as an AmeriCorps participant, and agrees to obtain a high school diploma or its equivalent prior to using the education award

· Agrees to provide information to establish eligibility and to complete a National Service Criminal History Check.

Recruitment Considerations

In addition to the required skills listed above, the host site considers the candidate’s ability to round out the program’s ability to best serve our community partners. As such,

we consider the skill set the individual brings to the team, areas in which they excel (and can share that knowledge/experience with others), and areas in which they need to develop or refine skills (and how these needs may be met within the context of this fellowship position). Also, the host site considers how readily the candidate will be able to be plugged into existing work plans for current projects - or if the work plans will need to be significantly adjusted to match the skills, interests and availability of the candidate.

Our Commitment:

Conservation Legacy is committed to the full consideration of all qualified individuals and will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to perform essential job functions. Physical requirements may include periodic overnight travel, non-traditional work hours, ability to move across varied terrain, use program-specific tools and a range of technology on an infrequent or frequent basis. Exerting up to 25 pounds of force occasionally to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects. The ability to safely drive an organizational vehicle may also be required for some positions. If you need assistance and/or reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager.

Time Requirements:

· Typically, this position is expected to serve Monday to Friday, but exact service schedules may vary. A half hour lunch break will not be counted towards AmeriCorps service

· Member may be required to participate in national, state, or local service projects or events as part of their service term.

Orientation and Training:

· Member will receive an orientation that includes training on AmeriCorps prohibited and unallowable activities.

· Professional Development Fund of $566.67 for Travel and Training

Benefits:

· Segal AmeriCorps Education Award of $7,395.00

· Living Allowance of $600.00 per week.

· Additional Benefit of $400.00 per week.

· Healthcare Coverage if Eligible

· Childcare Coverage if Eligible

· Loan forbearance if Eligible

· Interest Payments if Eligible

Evaluation and Reporting:

As an AmeriCorps member, performance will be evaluated on whether the member has completed the required number of hours, the member has satisfactorily completed assignments, and if the member has met other performance criteria that were clearly communicated at the beginning of the term of service.

Reporting requirements include, but are not limited to, bi-weekly timesheets and accomplishment tracking.

Supervisor Name and Contact Information:

Stewards Individual Placements Contact: Emma Nehan-Springstead, enehan@conservationlegacy.org 

NPS Supervisor: Julie Fonseca de Borges Julie_Fonseca_de_borges@nps.gov, 206-773-4734 

Conservation Legacy is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or reasonable accommodations due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager