Resource Technician Intern (1 opening)

Title: Resource Technician Intern (1 opening, term details below)

Start/End Date: ASAP- December 29^th,2023; Open to May starts for graduating seniors  

Stipend: $535/week

Term Length: 24 weeks – 39 weeks depending on intern’s availability

Reports To: David Bustos, Resource Program Manager

Location: White Sands National Park 19955 Highway 70 West Alamogordo, NM 88310

Status: 900-hour AmeriCorps Service Term; 1200-hour AmeriCorps Service Term

Benefits: Housing allowance $100/week; AmeriCorps Education Award (pre-tax) for 900-hr is $3,247; AmeriCorps Education Award for 1200-hr is $4,546; Public Lands Corps Certificate eligible*; both with successful completion of the internship.

Conservation Corps New Mexico (CCNM):

Conservation Corps New Mexico, a program of Conservation Legacy, is focused on connecting youth, young adults, and recent era military veterans with conservation service work projects on public lands. CCNM operates programs across New Mexico and western Texas, and Oklahoma that engage individuals and strengthen communities through service and conservation. The CCNM Individual Placement Program is managed from the Arizona Conservation Corps office in Las Cruces, NM.

Position Summary:

This position is in the Division of Resources at White Sands National Park. The purpose of the position is to perform, at the sub-journeyman level, the maintenance, repair, and construction of Park trails, fencing, and maintained landscape of urban area within the park. The resource technicians will be supporting park staff in daily operations related to resource program management and will be leading youth crews that rotate through the park with ongoing projects. The resource technicians will job shadow many of our resource experts, have a lot of opportunities to assist with researchers in a verity of fields, and work along-side many different employees in the park to understand all operations in the park.

Essential Responsibilities and Functions:

Carpentry

• Carpentry work is mostly involved in the maintenance and construction of fencing.
• Uses a wide variety of tools associated with the carpentry trade: hand saws, jig saws, power and hand drills, hand planers, generators, and carpentry hand tools.

Motor Vehicle and Equipment Operation

• Transports tools, materials, employees, vehicles and equipment to job sites and trailheads.
• Picks up supplies, loads, secures, and transports as required.
• Distributes and offloads supplies and equipment at job and storage sites.
• May operate power wheelbarrows, trailers, UTVs (Utility Terrain Vehicle).
• Incumbent is required to possess a current Driver's License.

Other

• When working with volunteer groups (Youth Corps, Student Conservation Association (SCA), AmeriCorps, Youth Opportunity Center (YOC) or in the absence of a leader or supervisor, member is responsible in leading diverse volunteers in assigned trail maintenance and construction projects.
• Recognize future and existing maintenance problems. This work requires ingenuity and careful judgment.
• Keep detailed log and photo diary of fence and trial conditions and maintenance activities.
• Re-establish safety corridors, hike potential future trails sites to note GPS coordinates, terrain, and activity.
• Build foundation for collecting, and logging data for restoration and maintenance projects.
• Develop knowledge in fence maintenance and trail and lead others in these activities.
• Required to perform basic laborer tasks such as cleanup of work sites and backcountry camps, materials moving, cleaning of vehicles and equipment, and regular cleanup of shop areas.

Required Skills:

Qualifications:

• High School Diploma
• Familiarity using Global Positioning System (GPS) devices, mapping and route finding.
• Comfortable and experienced with public engagement.
• Ability to lift 50 pounds and hike up to 10 miles in a day.
• Applicants must pass a DOI security background check and must possess a valid driver’s license with a clean driving record.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience driving a 4-wheel drive truck on rugged gravel or dirt roads.
• College degree in a related field such as Conservation Education, Wilderness or Recreation Management or Natural Resource Management.
• Previous leadership experience, preferably with a Conservation Corps or working with volunteers.
• Experience in trail maintenance and working with fencing.
• Experience working in the desert Southwest.
• Local candidates are preferred.

Responsibility:

Receives work assignments and/or direction from a maintenance worker leader or supervisor. Is given

work assignments orally, through work orders, sketches, and blueprints. Uses proper tools and materials

for the project work assignment based upon instructions received and own judgment. Work is inspected

during work progress and at completion for appearance, workmanship, and quality. Effective and

sustainable trail construction/repair work requires ingenuity and good judgment. Incumbent strives to

always carry this out.

Physical Requirements:

• To successfully perform essential functions, the individual is required to sit, stand, walk, speak, hear, etc. He/she must be able to operate office equipment, telephone, and computer and reach with hands and arms.
• Heavy physical effort is required in bending, lifting, and using hand and power tools in trail and fence work.
• Examples of typical strenuous activity include:
  • Frequently lifts and carries objects weighing over 100 pounds, must carry and roll rocks and logs, move rocks of several tons with rock bars, use hammers to crush or shape rock, and use shovel extensively.
  • Frequently hikes up to 10 miles daily and must be able to do so while carrying a backpack, power and/or hand tools.
• Reasonable accommodations may be made for qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

Participant Essential Eligibility Requirements:

Participation and Expedition Behavior:

• Incumbent must have the ability to work effectively in backcountry areas in close contact with small numbers of people for extended periods of time.
• Incumbent works out-of-doors on projects in various terrain up to 4,500 feet elevation in all extremes of adverse weather conditions. Trail and fence work is dusty, and hazardous conditions may exist when moving rocks, and working around machinery.
• 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
• Contribute to a safe learning environment; no harassment of others for any
• Willingness and ability to complete all aspects of the program including conservation projects, education, training, and national
• Effectively communicate ideas and concerns as they arise directly to supervisors, colleagues, and organization
• Appropriately represent Conservation Corps New Mexico, the BLM and AmeriCorps to the public and partners at all
• Flexibility, adaptability and capacity to work in a fluid, changing work

Safety and Judgment: 

• Applies safe work practices to all jobs or projects assigned. Is aware of and practices all safe operating procedures common to the craft. Active participant in safety training, meeting, and behavior-based safety program. Reports all accidents immediately to the supervisor or work leader.
• 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. 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
• Effectively perceive and understand significant and apparent hazards, and follow direction by others so that you will be able to successfully execute techniques to manage hazards. These directions may be given before the hazard is encountered or may need to be given during the exposure to the hazard. Ability to respond appropriately to stress or
• Stay alert and focused for several hours at a time while traveling and working in varied weather conditions.
• If taking prescriptions medications, participants must be able to maintain proper dosage by self- medicating without assistance from

Substance Free:

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

Background Check:

A DOI background clearance must be completed before the selected candidate may report to duty. The NPS will provide instructions for completion of the clearance after an intern has been selected and will notify them when they have been cleared to start the internship. This process will determine the internship’s exact start date.

Interns will have access to government facilities and systems, and will be supplied with access to gov’t vehicles, equipment, and materials needed to work on the projects and activities as outlined above. Interns must adhere to all government regulations and policies for operating equipment, vehicles, security awareness, and safety.

 *To be eligible for a Public Lands Corps certificate, interns must be between the ages of 18-30, inclusive, at the time the individual begins the term of service.

To Apply: Please submit an updated resume and cover letter along with the online application at https://corpsnm.org/individual-placement-openings.  If you have questions, contact CCNM’s Individual Placement Support Coordinator Kati DePaola at kdepaola@conservationlegacy.org.

Conservation Legacy is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to hiring a breadth of diverse professionals and encourage members of diverse groups to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, political affiliation, protected veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, 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 a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager.

For more information about Conservation Corps New Mexico, please visit www.corpsnm.org. Conservation Corps New Mexico is a program of Conservation Legacy.