Trail Intern
The Willamette National Forest is a large, complex forest, encompassing 1.6 million acres in Oregon, which stretches for 110 miles along the western slopes of the Cascades. It is known for its numerous volcanic peaks, the forested Cascade Range, and its outstanding rivers.
The two northern districts on the Willamette NF (Detroit and Sweet Home) are known collectively as the Santiam River Zone. The two districts encompass about 500,000 acres, and include outstanding features such as Mt. Jefferson Wilderness, Middle Santiam Wilderness, Opal Creek Scenic Recreation Area and Wilderness, the West Cascades National Scenic Byway and the Detroit Lake Reservoir. The two Districts have a large workload and keep about 50 permanent employees in Detroit and 30 permanent employees in Sweet Home very busy. In addition, the two districts employ approximately 50+ temporary employees during the summer field season.
The elevation range for the two districts is between 1500 feet and 10,000 feet (Mt. Jefferson). The average temperatures range from 37° low to 49° high in December and 51° low to 82° high in August. Average yearly precipitation across the zone ranges from 50 to around 80 inches, which occurs primarily from October to April. The area, like most of the Western Cascades, is known for its wet snowy winters and warm dry summers. Snowfall occurs in December through March and the normal snowline is 2500-3500 feet elevation. The heavy recreation season occurs between Memorial Day and Labor Day when Detroit Lake is at full pool.
The community of Detroit is situated in the heart of the west Cascades -- about 50 miles east of Salem, Oregon on Highway 22, and 70 miles west of Bend, Oregon. The District office is one mile west of the town of Detroit and is located in the North Santiam River Canyon. There are several North Santiam Canyon communities within easy commuting distance to the Detroit RD office including: Detroit, Idanha, Gates, Mill City, Lyons, Mehama, Stayton and Sublimity. A few employees even choose to live as far away as Sisters and Salem, and commute daily. At one time, Detroit was a logging community, but is now mostly a recreation oriented community. Detroit has about 300 permanent residents, but increases during the summer to about 500 residents. Summer activities include hiking, backpacking, hunting, fishing, and river rafting & kayaking, but the main summer attraction that draws thousands of people each year is the Detroit Lake Reservoir. Detroit Lake is the most popular lake in Oregon, known for its excellent water skiing, boating, fishing and camping. Winter activities include backcountry skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, and snowboarding/downhill skiing at nearby Hoodoo Ski area.
The Santiam Canyon communities offer a small town atmosphere, but are still within easy travel distance to metropolitan areas such as Salem (less than 1 hours travel time) and Portland (less than 1.5 hours travel time). Basic medical and dental services and a grocery store are available in Mill City, 20 miles west. Stayton, located 35 miles west, is the closest full service community with a hospital, medical clinics, retail shops, restaurants, auto service, and two major grocery stores. A larger medical facility and a broader selection of practitioners and medical specialists are located in the City of Salem, approximately 50 miles west of Detroit. Several public and private school systems provide education to children in Santiam canyon. There are elementary schools in Gates, Lyons, Stayton, and Sublimity. Middle and high schools are located in Mill City and Stayton. Willamette University and Chemeketa Community College are located in Salem. Chemeketa also has a satellite campus in Stayton.
As a trail crew member you will be working alongside five other crew members. Our duties focus on using crosscut saws, chainsaws, axes, loppers and other trail implements to cut the trees out of the trail which fall down every winter but, our duties are not limited to logging out. We also are working on installing two new trail reroutes on two of our areas popular trails with the possibility of three. We will also be installing well built rock structure at the many water crossings and areas that need trail drainage to solidify trail routes and help protect water quality. The crew will be doing bridge replacement projects with rigging cable systems. We will also be working with volunteers and organizations to maintain trails, trailhead facilities and the trail crew tool cache. EDUCATIONAL AND RECREATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES: Our work schedule will consist of six, eight day hitches camping and working on the trails in the backcountry of Mt. Jefferson, Opal Creek, Middle Santiam Wilderness areas and non-wilderness areas of Willamette National Forest. In between those eight day hitches six days will be available for off time in an area with a myriad of recreation opportunities to pursue.
