American Conservation Experience, a nonprofit Conservation Corps, in partnership with the John Muir National Historic Site (a unit of the National Park Service), is seeking two (2) Landscape Maintenance Members to contribute to ongoing routine landscape maintenance projects alongside NPS Staff and other interns and volunteers.

For more information about ACE, please visit the usaconservation website.

Start Date: 03/03/2025

Estimated End Date: 10/18/2025

*33 Week Commitment*

Location Details/Description: John Muir National Historic Site, Martinez, CA.

The site is the home and fruit ranch once owned and managed by naturalist John Muir and is characterized by three separate park units: a 9 acres fruit orchard and ornamental garden site (House Unit); 350 acres of oak woodland and grassland (Mount Wanda Unit); 1 acre gravesite and orchard (Gravesite Unit). In addition to work at the John Muir NHS Members will also be engaged with the landscape at another park site located 20 miles away in the town of Danville, the Eugene O'Neill NHS, characterized by 15 acres of orchards and ornamental gardens.

For more information about Martinez or the John Muir NHS please visit the NPS website.

Position Overview: The John Muir NHS maintains approximately 370 acres of landscape, in addition to 15 acres of orchards and cultivated landscape at our other park, Eugene O'Neill NHS. This position is necessary for our park to maintain the orchards, gardens, trees, shrubs and other landscape features to the quality and level expected by the public and the two park units. Currently the park does not have staffing to provide this level of service to the landscape and this position will meet and exceed that need, with supervision and guidance from the park Horticulturist/Arborist.

This position will entail a variety of landscape duties from basic gardening and cultural landscaping tasks (pruning, watering, weeding, mulching). Natural resource work may include removal of invasive weeds like thistle, threatened and endangered species monitoring, or native tree and plant monitoring. Day-to-day work will involve working primarily outside in a variety of weather conditions, though the timeframe of this position should be mostly warm to hot especially in summer. Work and tasks associated with this position may require the use of various landscaping hand tools such as pruners, loppers, rakes, shovels, hand saws, ladders, leaf blowers, lawnmowers, weed whackers, hedgers, fertilizer spreaders, (but no chainsaws). Power tools such as drills, screw guns, sanders, may also be required. Use of ladders may also be necessary and proper ladder use/training will be provided. Members may need to set traps or hand pull weeds, any use of baits or chemicals will only be done under close supervision. The park philosophy towards toxic chemicals is to limit or avoid their use whenever possible in favor of mechanical or other means of pest management.

The two ACE Members will work day-to-day in tandem with two other ACE/LSC interns and will also engage as much as possible with other divisions at the park including Maintenance, Natural Resources, Cultural Resources, Interpretation, park volunteers, and Youth Conservation Corp members. To the degree possible, Members will be invited to engage with other parks in the Bay Area NPS network if time and opportunity allows. "Special projects", associated with these cross discipline opportunities could consist of either academic research into garden or landscape history of the sites or practical application of new plants or methods of landscape maintenance.

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.

Schedule: This will be a full-time 40 hour/week position, daily schedule will typically be from 7am - 3:30pm, however daily start/stop times may be flexible depending upon job assignments and/or the individual's needs on a day-to-day basis.

Position Benefits

Living Allowance: The ACE Member is expected to contribute ~40 hours/week and will receive a living allowance of $720/week to offset the costs of food and incidental expenses, dispersed bi-weekly.

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. PLC projects also include specific eligibility requirements such as age and citizenship. Please contact ACE staff with questions about eligibility or view general information online at our usaconservation website.

Housing: Housing is the responsibility of the member and not provided by ACE or NPS.

Provided Training/Orientation: ACE members will receive position specific training and an orientation outlining ACE policies and procedures, clear guidance on prohibited activities, and networks for support. Specific training may include:

• Introduction to the National Park Service
• Tool use, handling, and safety: pruners, loppers, rakes, shovels, hand saws, ladders, leaf blowers, lawnmowers, weed whackers, hedgers, fertilizer spreaders, etc (no chainsaws)
• Pruning and plant health care
• Defensive Driver training
• Integrated Pest Management training

Qualifications

Required:

• Members must be a U.S. citizen or Permanent Resident, as required by 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).
• A current and valid form of ID (will be required to provide copies of ID's upon hiring)
• Willing to undergo and must pass the required two-part Criminal History Check
• Ability to perform the essential duties of the position with or without reasonable accommodation.
• ACE Members must verify that they are fully vaccinated for Covid-19 or have requested and been granted a medical or religious exemption to vaccination by the time they start their term.
• ACE Members will need to complete bi-weekly timesheets, beginning of term feedback forms, end of term evaluations and for longer terms, a mid-term evaluation.

Preferred:

• Competitive applicants for this position can hold or be pursuing a degree in horticulture, arboriculture, landscape design/architecture, environmental science, botany, biology, and/or have relevant experience in those subject areas.
• Knowledge of horticulture, arboriculture, landscape design/architecture, environmental science, botany, biology,
• Ability and willingness to work independently or in pairs or a group outside in a variety of weather conditions, walk and hike up to several miles per day, lift occasional heavy items, climb ladders.
• Deep interest in historic cultural landscapes and garden design and maintenance.