Wilderness Ranger - Eldorado National Forest

Wilderness Ranger

Summary

American Conservation Experience, a nonprofit Conservation Corps, in partnership with Eldorado National Forest, is seeking 5 Wilderness Ranger members to contribute to projects alongside Forest Service Staff.

The Wilderness Rangers will assist the Forest Service backcountry patrol of the Mokelumne Wilderness and Desolation Wilderness areas. This opportunity is intended for an enthusiastic young professional with a well-developed working background in conservation, natural resources management, wilderness management, recreation management, or a similar field. The Wilderness Ranger should possess a passion for public land management and a professional interest in advancing their career towards natural resource management, policy, and/or wilderness.

For more information about ACE, please visit our website

Start Date:Mid May 2026

End Date: 22 weeks after start date

Location: Eldorado National Forest, CA, Amador & Pacific Ranger Districts

The Eldorado National Forest is located in the central Sierra Nevada region within California and encompasses a total of 798,279 acres, which includes 193,027 acres of private ownership.

The Eldorado National Forest is bordered on the north by the Tahoe National Forest, on the east by the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit and the Humboldt-Toiyabe, and to the south by the Stanislaus National Forest. The Eldorado is within 3 - 4 hours of the San Francisco Bay Area and about 1 - 1 1/2 hours from Sacramento. It ranges in elevation from 1,000 feet in the foothills to more than 10,000 feet above sea level along the Sierra crest. The mountainous topography is broken by the steep canyons of the Mokelumne, Cosumnes, American, and Rubicon rivers. Plateaus of generally moderate relief are located between these steep canyons.

The forest is also home to 297 lakes and reservoirs (including both public and private acreage), which total 11,994 surface acres. 11 large reservoirs account for 9,000 acres. The rest are mostly small, high mountain lakes. Both the rivers and lakes provide excellent fishing opportunities. The Eldorado National Forest provides diverse recreational opportunities to the public. The Forest offers every visitor the chance to enjoy nature and be outdoors. In addition to two popular wilderness areas (Mokelumne Wilderness), the forest offers more than 70-day use and overnight developed recreation facilities across the forest for the individual, families and groups.

Position Overview:

• Assist the Forest Service in backcountry patrol of Mokelumne Wilderness and Desolation Wilderness.
• Backcountry patrol will include visitor contacts, outreach/education and trail work.
• Work with wilderness staff and volunteers to schedule/perform backcountry patrol of Mokelumne Wilderness and Desolation Wilderness.
• Candidates should be comfortable backpacking and camping in the backcountry for up to 5 days.
• Trail work experience and/or crosscut saw certification would be beneficial for the position. Training will also be provided.
• The member may assist with monitoring efforts, such as campsite inventory and solitude monitoring.
• Perform other duties as assigned.

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.

This position requires a balance of critical analysis with technical field expertise, along with the ability to work directly with the public in sometimes difficult scenarios.

Position Benefits

Living Allowance: The ACE Member is expected to contribute ~40 hours/week and will receive a living allowance of $760/week to offset the costs of food and incidental expenses, dispersed bi-weekly.

Travel Assistance: Up to $500 available for costs related to relocating to work location

Field per diem is available when overnight work is required

Housing: Housing may be available depending on location in a USFS barracks setting. A $100/wk housing reimbursement will be available to help offset the cost of housing.

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 and 640 hours of service. If the duration of a PLC-eligible term is not long enough for Members to accrue 640 hours of service (~16 weeks), the total hours served at the completion of the term may be eligible to be combined with hours accrued from another PLC-eligible term to meet the 640 hours requirement. PLC projects also include specific eligibility requirements such as age (You must be between the ages of 16 and 30. Some agencies also interpret these guidelines to include veterans up to age 35) and citizenship. Please contact ACE staff with questions about eligibility, or view general eligibility information on our website.

Qualifications

Required:

• Members must be comfortable in various indoor and outdoor work environments, and at times adverse weather conditions, hiking and backpacking for several miles a day
• Work required walking and climbing in steep, uneven terrain, performing physical labor, bending, lifting and carrying up to 50 pounds or more.
• Must be able to take initiative and work independently, as well as participate effectively in collaborative efforts.
• Ability to hike and backpack in a wilderness or backcountry setting.
• Comfortable with GPS (used to locate campsites to inventory) and data entry for analysis.
• Applicants must have a personal vehicle for work-related travel.
• Members must be US citizen or Permanent Resident, as required to comply with U.S. government contracts
• Willing and able to represent ACE and the partner organization in a professional, positive, and enthusiastic manner.
• Ability to be both self-directed/work alone, and be a positive, contributing member of a group.
• A valid driver's license and an insurable driving record (documentation to be provided upon request).
• Willing to undergo and must pass required criminal history checks.
• Ability to perform the essential duties of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.

Preferred Skills:

• Competitive applicants for this position can have relevant experience in subject areas such as Recreation Management and/or Natural Resources.
• Chainsaw and First Aid/CPR Certification highly desired; training may be provided.
• Members must have working knowledge of detailed recreation rules and regulations to assist Forest visitors, and to detect and report violations
• Ability to educate visitors in recreation management and law enforcement objectives and policies, to obtain compliance with laws/regulations, to resolve problems, and to provide assistance to forest visitors. Contacts will include dealing with some persons and/or groups that may be uncooperative, hostile and who have different viewpoints.
• Must have strong communication skills
• Must be able to work alone and in small groups with minimal supervision, and adhere to instructions, procedure and use initiative in carrying out recurring assignments independently
• Experience and/or ability to learn the use of a GPS unit
• Public outreach and making contacts with visitors is a key component of this role contact is to educate visitors in recreation management and law enforcement objectives and policies, to obtain compliance with laws/regulations, to resolve problems, and to provide assistance to forest visitors. Contacts will include dealing with some persons and/or groups that may be uncooperative, hostile and who have different viewpoints

To Apply: Please submit your resume, a cover letter demonstrating your interest and experience, and contact information for three professional/academic references to ACE's online application page for this position on our website. Early consideration will be given as applications are received. This position may close at any time. If you have any questions regarding this position please feel free to contact Jack Hall BLM/USFS Assistant Director jhall @ usaconservation dot org

If you meet at least 70 percent of the qualifications, we want to hear from you!

ACE participates in E-Verify and will provide the federal government with your Form I-9 information when you are hired to confirm that you are authorized to work in the U.S.

EEO: Employment or Service with ACE is based upon ability, qualifications, attitude, and job-related factors. Every qualified employee, member, or applicant has the same opportunity for recruitment, hire, training, transfer, promotion, compensation, demotion, termination, benefits, employee activities, and general treatment without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, creed, national origin, pregnancy, ancestry, citizenship status, genetic information, veteran or military status, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, medical condition, marital