Backcountry Trails Intern
The Klamath National Forest includes 1.7 million acres of spectacular scenery including steep mountainous terrain, pristine rivers and remote lakes. The Forest includes portions of 5 wilderness areas: Siskiyou, Marble Mountain, Russian, Trinity Alps and Red Buttes. Position will be based in Happy Camp, CA. The town of Happy Camp is located along the Klamath Wild and Scenic River in Northern California. Happy Camp is a small community of approximately 1,000 people. Several larger communities are located within a couple hours drive. Yreka is the nearest full-service community, which is about 1.5 hours from Happy Camp.
Backcountry Trails Intern reposonsibilities consiste primarily of maintaining hiker and equestrian trails as part of the trail crew. This includes:
- removing downed logs from the trail using a cross-cut saw (training will be provided)
- providing trail tread maintenance or construction
- cutting brush
- maintaining drainage structures such as water bars and small culverts
- constructing retaining walls
- litter clean-up
There may be the opportunity occasionally, if you are interested, to work with the River Ranger to patrol the Klamath River in inflatable kayaks on your days off.You will typically be spending four to five days (i.e., three to four nights) in the wilderness per week, with a Forest Service trails employee serving as your work leader in the field. Your work will involve hiking 8-15 miles of trails per day in steep terrain and varied weather conditions. The Forest Service will provide necessary camping gear. You will be expected to caeey your own gear and cook your own meals. Interacting with the public is an important part of this position. You will therefore be expected to provide quality customer service and to maintain a professional appearance (to the extent practicable given wilderness conditions). You may be asked to work weekends, as those are the highest use times for our wilderness trails. Poison oak is common at lower elevations and your will encounter other hazards on the trail including stinging insects and snakes. A 2-way radio and a satellite phone will be provided to the trails crew. You will be expected to follow Forest Service and SCA safety and communication procedures at all times.You will be working on the Happy Camp-Oak Knoll District of the Klamath National Forest. The majority of our trails are in the Marble Mountain and Siskiyou Wilderess areas, though some are in backcountry area outside designated Wilderness. You are encouraged to browse wilderness.net to learn more about federally-designated Wilderness and its management. You can also find profiles of individual Wilderness areas there. You may also browse the Klamath National Forest website under "Recreation" to learn more about our trails.
