DOLORES RIVER RESTORATION CREW MEMBER  

DATES: August 26th - November 22nd 

STATUS: Seasonal, Full-time, Camping Program for the Fall 

LOCATION: Durango, CO 

STIPEND: $300/week 

AGES: 18 – 30 

HEALTH BENEFITS: Not Health Benefit Eligible  

OTHER BENEFITS: Wilderness First Aid Certificate, S-212 chainsaw training, food provided while in the field, uniform shirts, personal protective equipment. 

AMERICORPS EDUCATION AWARD: $1,566.14 

ABOUT SOUTHWEST CONSERVATION CORPS 

Southwest Conservation Corps (SCC) is a non-profit, AmeriCorps-affiliated organization that engages motivated young adults to complete challenging and impactful conservation and service projects on public lands throughout Colorado and New Mexico. Our programs focus on place based learning, life skills development, conservation service work, appreciation of diversity, civic responsibility, and career development. SCC also provides an opportunity for corpsmembers to learn about the local environment, environmental issues, and get introductions to recreation and resource management careers.  

Projects include trail construction & maintenance, habitat improvement, hazardous fuels reduction, re-vegetation and local environmental service projects. Crews may also complete technical and/or specialized projects depending on project partner needs, including disaster relief if the opportunity arises.  

ABOUT THE POSITION 

As an AmeriCorps program participant with SCC, your office is the great outdoors! Each crew consists of  6 members and 2 leaders. This crew will work primarily residential schedules: 9 days on, 5 days off. While camping, crews are responsible for cooking meals and completing chores.  SCC does not provide housing for your off time. The AmeriCorps DRRC program requires members to be flexible! 

Members complete invasive tree removal and riparian restoration activities on public and private lands along the Dolores River corridor in Southwest Colorado.  The AmeriCorps DRRC is in its ninth year of existence as part of a large collaborative restoration initiative: The Dolores River Restoration Partnership (see: https://www.drrpartnership.org/).  

Projects will include: Tamarisk removal, habitat enhancement thinning projects, and the potential for riparian planting, fencing and related activities.  The collaborative nature of the program will find SCC crews training and working with partner corps programs (Canyon Country Youth Corps, Western Colorado Conservation Corps) on projects throughout the watershed.   

The AmeriCorps DRRC has a training component that prepares members for careers in resource management such as invasive species treatment and monitoring, riparian restoration, or wildland fire management in the public or private sector. Members will receive: Orientation to the project, riparian ecology basics, S-212 certification (nationally recognized chainsaw operation and safety certification), chainsaw operation experience, Invasive Species identification and treatment modalities, wilderness first aid training, herbicide application training and experience, and exposure to large scale restoration projects, partners, and activities.  Some members, if they independently arrange for it, can earn college credit for their participation.  

The DRRC Crew will attend a 5 day volunteer orientation (August 26th – 31st, 2019). This will include a Wilderness First Aid training. Food and space to camp is provided during this training. This crew will head to saw training the following Monday.  

Required Skills

QUALIFICATIONS: To qualify, you must be between the ages of 18 and 30, and a US citizen that has received (or on track to receive) a high school diploma or GED. All offers of unemployment are conditional upon completion of an acceptable check of the National Sex Offender Public Registry and Federal Criminal background check.  

PARTICIPANT ESSENTIAL ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS 

Essential eligibility requirements for the program must be met. If you are unable to meet certain requirements, we may be able to assist you with some modification unless it alters the fundamental nature of the program, compromises the health and safety of participants or staff, or places an undue financial or administrative burden on the organization. These requirements are written the same for all positions and therefore may not apply directly to your particular position: 

PARTICIPANT AND EXPEDITION BEHAVIOR 

• Work effectively as a member of a team despite potentially stressful and difficult conditions. This may require problem solving on an interpersonal or group level as well as a willingness to accept differences. 
• Willingness and ability to complete all aspects of the program, including conservation projects, education, training and national service. Members must commit to participating in all crew activities, including service days in local communities where applicable.  
• Effectively communicate ideas and concerns as they arise directly to supervisors, colleagues and organization staff. 
• Have the cognitive ability to learn necessary skills and apply them to effectively carry out the service work requirements. 
• Contribute to a safe learning environment; no harrassment of others for any reason. 
• Appropriately represent SCC and AmeriCorps to the public and project partners at all time.

SAFETY AND JUDGEMENT 

• Effectively communicate danger to others in the form of either a warning of danger others may be encountering or a notification of personal distress, injury or need for assistance. You must be able to do so at a distance of up to 50 meters and in conditions with limited visibility or loud background noise such as darkness or high winds. 
• Effectively perceive, understand and follow direction by others so that you will be able to successfully execute appropriate and perhaps unfamiliar techniques to manage hazards. These directions may be given before the hazard is encountered or may need to be given during exposure to the hazard. 
• Stay alert and focused for several hours at a time while traveling and working in varied weather conditions. 
• Perceive and comprehend significant and apparent hazards, including those hazards previously identified by others. 
• Respond appropriately to stress or crises. 
• If taking prescription medications, participants must be able to maintain proper dosage by self-medicating without assistance from others.

ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS & OUTDOOR SKILLS 

• Learn and practice Leave No Trace ethics and techniques. 
• Learn and safely perform fundamental outdoor living/travel and work skills as appropriate to the project. Remain adequately hydrated, fed, and properly dressed as to remain generally healthy and safe, avoiding environmental injuries. 
• Live in a physically demanding, possibly remote environment for an uninterrupted period of up to several weeks. Conditions of this environment may vary significantly and may include severe and/or trying weather. The remoteness is such that it may require at a minimum one hour, but perhaps in excess of 12 hours, to reach the nearest advanced medical care.

SUBSTANCE FREE 

• In accordance to a drug free workplace, alcohol and drugs are prohibited while participating in AmeriCorps and SCC activities, and while on organization property.

TO APPLY: VISIT HTTPS://SCCORPS.ORG/OPEN-POSITIONS 

Any questions can be addressed to Lisa Slupianek: lslupianek@conservationlegacy.org 

Required Experience

QUALIFICATIONS: To qualify, you must be between the ages of 18 and 30, and a US citizen that has received (or on track to receive) a high school diploma or GED. All offers of unemployment are conditional upon completion of an acceptable check of the National Sex Offender Public Registry and Federal Criminal background check.  

PARTICIPANT ESSENTIAL ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS 

Essential eligibility requirements for the program must be met. If you are unable to meet certain requirements, we may be able to assist you with some modification unless it alters the fundamental nature of the program, compromises the health and safety of participants or staff, or places an undue financial or administrative burden on the organization. These requirements are written the same for all positions and therefore may not apply directly to your particular position: 

PARTICIPANT AND EXPEDITION BEHAVIOR 

• Work effectively as a member of a team despite potentially stressful and difficult conditions. This may require problem solving on an interpersonal or group level as well as a willingness to accept differences. 
• Willingness and ability to complete all aspects of the program, including conservation projects, education, training and national service. Members must commit to participating in all crew activities, including service days in local communities where applicable.  
• Effectively communicate ideas and concerns as they arise directly to supervisors, colleagues and organization staff. 
• Have the cognitive ability to learn necessary skills and apply them to effectively carry out the service work requirements. 
• Contribute to a safe learning environment; no harrassment of others for any reason. 
• Appropriately represent SCC and AmeriCorps to the public and project partners at all time.

SAFETY AND JUDGEMENT 

• Effectively communicate danger to others in the form of either a warning of danger others may be encountering or a notification of personal distress, injury or need for assistance. You must be able to do so at a distance of up to 50 meters and in conditions with limited visibility or loud background noise such as darkness or high winds. 
• Effectively perceive, understand and follow direction by others so that you will be able to successfully execute appropriate and perhaps unfamiliar techniques to manage hazards. These directions may be given before the hazard is encountered or may need to be given during exposure to the hazard. 
• Stay alert and focused for several hours at a time while traveling and working in varied weather conditions. 
• Perceive and comprehend significant and apparent hazards, including those hazards previously identified by others. 
• Respond appropriately to stress or crises. 
• If taking prescription medications, participants must be able to maintain proper dosage by self-medicating without assistance from others.

ENVIRONMENTAL ETHICS & OUTDOOR SKILLS 

• Learn and practice Leave No Trace ethics and techniques. 
• Learn and safely perform fundamental outdoor living/travel and work skills as appropriate to the project. Remain adequately hydrated, fed, and properly dressed as to remain generally healthy and safe, avoiding environmental injuries. 
• Live in a physically demanding, possibly remote environment for an uninterrupted period of up to several weeks. Conditions of this environment may vary significantly and may include severe and/or trying weather. The remoteness is such that it may require at a minimum one hour, but perhaps in excess of 12 hours, to reach the nearest advanced medical care.

SUBSTANCE FREE 

• In accordance to a drug free workplace, alcohol and drugs are prohibited while participating in AmeriCorps and SCC activities, and while on organization property.

TO APPLY: VISIT HTTPS://SCCORPS.ORG/OPEN-POSITIONS 

Any questions can be addressed to Lisa Slupianek: lslupianek@conservationlegacy.org