2014 YCC summer crew jobs are open

Ranger districts looking for workers

Young men or women born between August 8th, 1996, and June 16th, 1999 are eligible for summer employment with the Forest Service. The McKenzie River and Middle Fork ranger districts have openings for summer  employment  under  the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC).

Applications will be accepted from January 10th through February 14th, 2014.

YCC employees complete valuable   conservation   work  on public lands and have the opportunity to learn about, and develop, an appreciation of the natural environment. YCC is a summer working session for area youth to learn about natural resource management while earning income. The emphasis is on hands-on learning; tasks may include campground maintenance and renovation, trail building, noxious weed removal, planting, wildlife habitat enhancement and various other projects.

Some crews work throughout the summer on projects including building bridges, pulling invasive weeds,   conducting  wildlife  sur-

veys, trail maintenance, wildlife habitat enhancement and repairing fences. Other workers rotate through tasks, allowing them the opportunity to learn what jobs interest them, and also which don’t.

The number of people hired is dependent on available funding and differs by ranger district. In both locations selections for crewmembers are done by random drawing while ensuring roughly equal numbers of male and female participants. Crews will be staffed with an adult crew leader and a youth leader. Wages for crewmembers are the minimum wage of $9.10/hour; wages for youth leaders are $10.46/hour.

Crewmembers will be expected to report to the ranger station each morning; the Forest Service will provide transport out to the field sites from the station. Employment will begin on June 16th and end the first week of August. If more funding becomes available, some additional weeks of work may be provided.

Crewmembers must come prepared with proper work boots (contact the ranger district before buying boots), work clothes and lunches; crews are expected to perform rigorous outdoor work under potentially adverse weather conditions in rough terrain.

Interested youth may obtain an application at their high school, the ranger district offices or on the web at: http://www.fs.usda.gov/goto/willamette/ycc. However, applications must be signed and submitted in hardcopy to the respective ranger districts. For further information contact the McKenzie River Ranger District near McKenzie Bridge at 541.822.3381, or the Middle Fork Ranger District in Westfir at 541.782.2283.

Image above: The 2013 YCC crew sanding and replacing some boards on the Box Canyon Guard Station.