Hiring for ALL 2018 summer positions begins in January.

We will update this page with details and descriptions then. Thank you for stoping by.  

SUMMER CREW LEADER POSITIONS

As a BMWF crew leader your “office” will be the 1.5 million acre Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex! Crew Leaders are responsible for organizing and implementing volunteer service projects that clear and maintain trails, mitigate user impacts, and remove invasive weeds. Work is primarily
in the field with some limited office/computer tasks.  An important aspect of the work includes training volunteers, many of whom have little to no wilderness experience. Crew leaders coordinate project logistics, including Forest Service coordination, meal planning and food shopping, training volunteers on the use of primitive tools, safety practices, and backcountry living and camping.  This position requires camping and working at primitive backcountry and front country sites, extensive hiking over varied terrain and working in a variety of weather conditions. There may be opportunities to work with pack stock, but stock may not be provided for every project.

The Trail Crew Leader will have the opportunity to meet numerous professionals in the wilderness management field and make connections for future opportunities in wilderness and recreation management. Apply by February 1, 2018.

Summer Wilderness Internships

The Bob Marshall Wilderness Foundation offers various opportunities to college age students  planning to pursue careers in natural resource related fields. The internships are field based training program for college and high school students planning to pursue careers in natural resources and related fields.  Interns gain valuable job skills that build career opportunities in the Forest Service and nonprofit partner field.

For the 2018 field season we will be hiring up to 11 interns to work as either an embedded intern with the Forest Service (WRI) or as a member of a 5 person trail crew (WCC).

WILDERNESS CONSERVATION CORPS

WCC Interns work as part of a 4 member team lead by an experienced Wilderness Crew Leader.  Project work includes 5, 10 day backcountry “hitches,” one on each of the 5 Ranger Districts that manage the Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex.  Interns will conduct trail maintenance, noxious weed removal, and campsite impact monitoring.  It is also expected that interns help with project preparation, meal planning, backcountry cooking, and tool maintenance.

Other requirements include: camping at primitive sites, extensive hiking over varied terrain and working in a variety of weather conditions.  There may be opportunities to work with pack stock on some projects, but stock will not be provided for every project.  Corps members may occasionally work with adult and youth volunteers.

SUMMER PACKER APPRENTICE PROGRAM

Volunteer pack support is an integral part of the work BMWF does, Pack stock haul tools, food and gear for over 40 back country projects each year. Without this non-motorized support, volunteer based stewardship would not be possible. In addition, packers help educate volunteers about the importance of traditional stock use. The Bob has a uniquely rich heritage of stock use, which has helped to shape the character of the Complex and its users, as well as support its conservation and stewardship. However, despite this deeply engrained heritage, packing is a fading skill. The current generation of packers is aging, and there are few young packers being trained to replace them. The BMWF with Back Country Horsemen of the Flathead (BCHF) and Backcountry Horsemen of America (BCHA) have established a packer apprentice program designed to help foster the next generation of packers, who we hope will help support wilderness stewardship in The Bob for years to come. Each apprentice will gain valuable skills and training in Wilderness packing. The apprentice will attend a packing skills class at the Nine Mile Wildlands Training Center taught by legendary packer Smoke Elser. Topics covered in this five day course include: stock anatomy, saddles and tack, feeding and care of stock, safe stock handling techniques, packing the Decker saddle, and minimum impact camping and stock use techniques. Following training the packer apprentice will be required to participate in a minimum of 6, one way packing trips with the BMWF trainer packers. These experienced packers will provide training in stock safety, packing different loads on different animals using different styles of packing, safely on the trail, wilderness skills and much more. This is a part-time apprenticeship that provides travel and meals allowance: it is assumed that the apprentice will likely have other summer employment as well.