Summary

American Conservation Experience, a nonprofit Conservation Corps, in partnership with the Eldorado National Forest, is seeking 1 Recreation Technician Assistant. The Recreation Technician Assistant will perform work assignments related to the monitoring, assessment, planning and maintenance aspects of recreation management. This opportunity is intended for candidates with a well-developed working background in conservation, natural resources management, wilderness management, recreation management, or a similar field. The Recreation Technician Assistant should possess a passion for public land management and a professional interest in advancing their career towards natural resource management.

For more information about ACE, please visit: www.usaconservation.org.

Start Date: May 13th, 2024

Estimated End Date: October 11th, 2024

Location: Eldorado National Forest, Pacific Ranger District, Pollock Pines, CA

The Eldorado National Forest is located in the central Sierra Nevada region within California and encompasses a total of 798,279 acres, which includes 193,027 acres of private ownership.

The Eldorado National Forest is bordered on the north by the Tahoe National Forest, on the east by the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit and the Humboldt-Toiyabe, and to the south by the Stanislaus National Forest. The Eldorado is within 3 - 4 hours of the San Francisco Bay Area and about 1 - 1 1/2 hours from Sacramento. It ranges in elevation from 1,000 feet in the foothills to more than 10,000 feet above sea level along the Sierra crest. The mountainous topography is broken by the steep canyons of the Mokelumne, Cosumnes, American, and Rubicon rivers. Plateaus of generally moderate relief are located between these steep canyons.

The forest is also home to 297 lakes and reservoirs (including both public and private acreage), which total 11,994 surface acres. 11 large reservoirs account for 9,000 acres. The rest are mostly small, high mountain lakes. Both the rivers and lakes provide excellent fishing opportunities. The Eldorado National Forest provides diverse recreational opportunities to the public. The Forest offers every visitor the chance to enjoy nature and be outdoors. In addition to two popular wilderness areas (Desolation Wilderness and Mokelumne Wilderness), the forest offers more than 70-day use and overnight developed recreation facilities across the forest for the individual, families and groups.

For more information regarding Eldorado National Forest, please click here.

Position Overview:

Project objectives include but are not limited to:

• Will assist with minor maintenance of developed and dispersed recreation area facilities, including campgrounds and trailheads (cleans restrooms, cleans campsites, maintains fire-safe areas, paints picnic tables and bulletin boards, etc.).
• Provides excellent customer service by enthusiastically answering questions, greeting and assisting visitors.
• Work within a team to patrol campgrounds, trailheads, OHV areas and dispersed sites to ensure it stays presentable and address/and or report discrepancies as they occur.
• Support staff to ensure visitors comply with rules and regulations.
• Assists in trail maintenance activities, including but not limited to brushing, tread work and logging out.
• May collects fees and may assist in the management of group reservations.
• Performs other duties as assigned.
• May require camping for up to two nights per week in a remote recreation area without on-site cell phone service.

This position requires the balancing of critical analysis with technical field expertise, along with the ability to work directly with the public in sometimes difficult scenarios.

This individual placement is meant to facilitate professional development and promotes exposure to land management agencies and networking with professionals. This could include gaining experience in different conservation fields and shadowing different work groups.

Position Benefits

Living Allowance: The ACE Member is expected to contribute ~40 hours/week and will receive a living allowance of $680/week to offset the costs of food and incidental expenses, dispersed bi-weekly.

Housing: Not provided: Housing is the responsibility of the member and not provided by ACE or USFS. A $100/wk housing reimbursement will be available to help offset the cost of housing.

Public Land Corps Hiring Authority: Members serving under this agreement may be eligible for a federal hiring authority upon completion of their term of service. PLC projects also include specific eligibility requirements such as age and citizenship. Please contact ACE staff with questions about eligibility, or view general information online https://www.usaconservation.org/epic/#eligibility-requirements.

Qualifications

Required:

• Public outreach and making contacts with visitors is a key component of this role contact is to educate visitors in recreation management and law enforcement objectives and policies, to obtain compliance with laws/regulations, to resolve problems, and to provide assistance to forest visitors. Contacts will include dealing with some persons and/or groups that may be uncooperative, hostile and who have different viewpoints
• Members must have a high fitness level and be comfortable in various indoor and outdoor work environments, and at times adverse weather conditions
• Must have strong communication skills
• Must be able to work alone and in small groups with minimal supervision, and adhere to instructions, procedure and use initiative in carrying out recurring assignments independently
• Must have cash handling experience
• Members must be US citizen or Permanent Resident, as required to comply with U.S. government contracts
• Willing and able to represent ACE and the partner organization in a professional, positive, and enthusiastic manner.
• Ability to be both self-directed/work alone, and be a positive, contributing member of a group.
• A valid driver's license and an insurable driving record (documentation to be provided upon request).
• Willing to undergo and must pass required criminal history checks.
• Ability to perform the essential duties of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.
• ACE Members must verify that they are fully vaccinated for Covid-19 or have requested and been granted a medical or religious exemption to vaccination by the time they start their term.

Preferred Skills:

• First Aid/CPR Certification highly desired; training may be provided.
• Strong communication skills
• Have demonstrated skills and knowledge of basic procedures for cleaning and maintaining recreational areas, facilities and/or trails
• Experience and/or ability to learn the use of a GPS unit