Pinnacles National Park is located in California's Central Coast region of the Gabilan Mountain Range east of the Salinas Valley. The surrounding landscape is largely chaparral with areas of oak savannah and grasslands. The position is located at the eastside park headquarters in Paicines, CA. Nearest communities for shopping, doctors, hospitals, and other amenities are Hollister (40 miles, population 34,400), King City (40 miles, population 14,000), Gilroy (65 miles, population 41,400), Salinas (70 miles, population 151,000), and Monterey (90 miles, population 30,000).
Pinnacles National Park is remote. Applicants must have a personal vehicle, as the nearest services are a one-hour drive in any direction. Additionally, there is no cell-phone service in the park.
For more information about the park, please visit https://www.nps.gov/pinn/index.htm
Position Overview: The ACE Members will directly serve within the Division of Research and Resource Management at Pinnacles National Park. The members will serve as part of a crew conducting invasive plant treatment and habitat restoration efforts (80%). Additional duties (< 20 %) may include projects on other resource-related projects such as:
- Seed collection
- Planting
- Rare plant surveys
- Vegetation monitoring
- Aquatic resources
- Wildlife monitoring
- Physical resources monitoring
- Interpretation-related projects
- GPS mapping
- May use computer software applications (e.g., Access, Excel, Word, ArcGIS etc.) to enter, process, assemble, and summarize data
- Create reports and recommendations from natural resources projects.
Environment: Approximately 90% of this position is made up of physically demanding and mentally taxing projects in the outdoors. Crewmembers must be able to hike up to ten miles per day carrying gear and equipment weighing up to 40 pounds. Field work can, at times, be tedious. Additionally, crewmembers must be willing to mix, load, and apply herbicides with the direct supervision of a licensed applicator for the purposes of vegetation control as a major part of work duties. Duties in the field includes exposure to environmental hazards including extremes of temperature and moisture, rattlesnakes, ticks and biting insects, dense brush including poison oak.
Training: The park and park staff will provide opportunities in leadership development and career exploration within the field of land management. The park will provide training on park resource information, operating procedures, and safety protocols. Core duties will train applicants on GIS, plant identification, and invasive species management including the safe use of herbicides. In addition to regular duties, interns will be given an opportunity to learn from park professionals working in areas such as condors, raptors, bats, invasive wildlife species, entomology, herpetology, cultural and historical resources, interpretation, and maintenance. Interns are often able to observe many species of animals up close and experience many areas of the park not generally visited by the public.
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.
Schedule: This full-time position will entail early morning starts. Applicants should expect to work an average of 40 hours per work on M-F between 7:00AM and 5:30PM, although the exact schedule will vary seasonally.
Position Benefits
- Living Allowance: The ACE Member is expected to contribute ~40 hours/week and will receive a living allowance of $600/week to offset the costs of food and incidental expenses, dispersed bi-weekly.
- AmeriCorps Education Award Program: This position may be eligible for an 675-hour AmeriCorps Education Award while serving under the EAP 2023/24 grant year program, valued up to $2626.27 upon successful completion of their term.
- Loan Forbearance: AmeriCorps members may also be eligible for federal loan forbearance. Additional enrollment steps are required.
- Qualifying Child Care Coverage: AmeriCorps members may also be eligible for qualifying child care coverage.
- 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 guidelines such as age and citizenship.
- Housing: Housing is the responsibility of the member and not provided by ACE or NPS
- Gear Allowance: ACE members will have up to $150 to spend on eligible gear purchases. Eligible gear must be approved by ACE staff prior to purchase.
- Provided Training/Orientation: ACE members will receive position specific training and an orientation outlining ACE policies and procedures, clear guidance on prohibited activities, and networks for support.
Qualifications