National Crew Leaders

Mentor. Wilderness guide. Supervisor. Counselor. Crew Leader. You’re all that and more when you lead a High School Conservation Crew. SCA offers qualified applicants the chance to lead volunteer crews in more than 100 spectacular national parks, forests, refuges, and other sites across the US. This is your chance to see nature at its best: rugged, unspoiled, breathtaking.

As a Crew Leader you will work during the Summer in the backcountry or frontcountry with a crew of six, eight, or ten high school students. Most crews are made up of an equal number of young women and men, and there are usually two adult leaders. SCA crews help land management agencies such as the National Park Service and the USDA Forest Service to accomplish projects which the agencies might not otherwise be able to undertake. Your SCA crew might:

• Construct and maintain trails through parks and forests
• Build bridges and shelters
• Repair walls and stone steps
• Improve and conserve wildlife habitats

You will shepherd this team through the challenge of many weeks of working together far from home – providing advice, support, and teaching them how to pound nails, fell trees, look out for one another, and take care of themselves. You will keep them going when they miss home, keep them safe, and you all will share the tremendous satisfaction of a job well done.

Specific qualifications include: a strong interest and experience teaching and/or working with youth; the ability to maintain a safe, productive and enjoyable work environment; and relevant outdoor experience (living, working, and playing outside). Workskills experience is desired. Positions available throughout the United States.

Commuting Crew Leaders

Lead and mentor a crew of 10 high school youth, ages 15-18, during the Summer of 2008. Crew Leaders will train and lead youth to complete much needed conservation service projects in city and county community parks. Leaders will work as a team to plan and lead weekly field trips designed to build an understanding and ethic of community and environmental stewardship with youth participants.

Specific qualifications include; experience teaching or working with urban youth; ability to maintain safe, productive and enjoyable work environment; strong interest in working with and mentoring youth; and relevant outdoor experience. Positions available in the following: Washington, DC, Pittsburgh, Houston, Dallas, Stamford, Detroit, Newark, Oakland, Clinton, NJ, Milwaukee, & Baltimore.

Crew Leader Qualifications

• Be at least 21 years old.
• Be a U.S. citizen.
• Possess a valid driver's license.
• Be in good physical condition (if selected you will be required to submit written results from a recent physical exam).
• Obtain current required certification by the start date of the Crew Leader Training.
  • Wilderness First Responder (WFR) or equivalent certification; required for solo and backcountry Crew Leaders.
  • Wilderness First Aid (WFA); required for CLC Leaders and National Crew Leaders working with a WFR certified co-leader.
    • We offer a WFA course two days prior to the Crew Leader Training.
  • Basic First Aid; required for Commuting Crew Leaders.
• Obtain at least one personal reference.
• Agree to a background check done at SCA's expense (includes a current driving record).
• Participate in a personal interview.
• Attend Crew Leader Orientation Training, 3-4 days in Spring. New Crew Leaders must also attend the Work Skills Training, 5-6 days in Spring. Travel to and from Training is paid for by SCA.

Apply Now!

You can complete and submit your application quickly and easily using our online application process. Our new online application system does not currently support Mozilla, Firefox, Opera or Safari browsers. You will need to find a Windows computer with Internet Explorer 6.0 or up to complete your application. We apologize for this inconvenience. To learn more or to request a paper application, please email admissions@thesca.org