Conservation Corps Crew Member

Summary:

American Conservation Experience, a non-profit conservation corps with a divisional branch in Asheville, NC, is looking for members to come join our team of young adults serving on meaningful conservation projects throughout the Eastern US. This opportunity is intended for those looking to learn valuable skills for their career while immersed in a community of like-minded young professionals from around the country. Members typically serve for 3-6 months on projects including ecological restoration, habitat improvement, and trail maintenance and construction, all while completing a term of AmeriCorps service. While serving, members typically have 2-6 days off between each project to enjoy the Eastern US's abundant beauty and recreational opportunities with their friends and colleagues. Take your first step towards beginning or advancing your career by applying with us today!

Position Description:

Members serve in professionally supervised teams as they explore future outdoor careers, learn practical field skills, and develop confidence as emerging leaders in the field of conservation. Members are afforded opportunities to learn and train under the guidance of professional mentors within ACE, while gaining invaluable career perspectives working alongside staff from the National Park Service, US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and many other stewards of our nation's public lands.

Field work and additional responsibilities might include but are not limited to:

• Habitat restoration
• Trail construction and maintenance
• Dry and wet stone masonry
• Reforestation
• Forest thinning
• Plant identification
• Fencing
• Invasive species removal
• Swamping

Members get experience with, or in conjunction with, the following tools and equipment, depending on their level of training:

Trail Maintenance: Pick mattocks, Pulaskis, shovels, single/double jacks, McLeods, single bit axes, rock bars, chisels, crosscut saws, and griphoists.

Restoration Equipment: Herbicide backpack sprayers, spray bottles, GPS units, and measuring tools.

Power Tools and Gas Powered Equipment: Chainsaws, brush-cutters, drills, saws, and compressors.

Qualifications: Applicants should be prepared to perform physically challenging labor on environmental and conservation projects for 10 hours a day. Applicants should expect to hike extended distances on rough terrain carrying backpacks, tools, and equipment, and be prepared to spend 8 consecutive days in the field, on each project. Members will work in a variety of weather conditions such as temperatures ranging from below freezing to over 100 degrees Fahrenheit, high winds, intense sunshine, rain, and snow.

Required:

• U.S. Citizen or permanent resident
• Able and willing to work in a group
• Able and willing to work outdoors in varying weather conditions and capable of hiking moderate distances in somewhat rough terrain during inclement weather conditions
• Willingness to undergo and must pass a required two-part criminal history check

Preferred:

• Experience in hiking and navigation in steep terrain
• Strong desire to enter the conservation field as a natural resource professional
• Experience or interest in volunteering in local communities

Physical Demands, Work Environment and Working Conditions:

• Physical Demands: Requires frequent sitting, standing, walking, hiking, carrying, using hands to handle or feel, reaching with hands and arms, talking and hearing. Manual dexterity required for use of various tools or equipment. Required to stoop, kneel, climb stairs, and/or crouch. Ability to hike over rough terrain, and camp overnight under field conditions.
• Vision Requirements: Close, distance, peripheral and depth perception vision as well as the ability to focus may be required.
• Weight Lifted or Force Exerted: Frequently moves up to 25 lbs., ability to move up to 60 pounds.
• Environmental: Outdoor and indoor conditions. Work environment conditions can change frequently; working under adverse weather conditions and in various climates.
• Noise Environment: Moderate to high noise such gas-powered chainsaws and other hand and power tools.
• Travel: This position requires domestic travel.