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run a business doing trail construction and maintenance, usually for the USFS as a contractor. We have contracts all over, currently doing 4 at the same time in VA, GA, and ID as soon as the snow melts. Hired a guy from here surprisingly enough, he's worked out very well. If anybody's interested, at the very least you'd need transpo to get out there, we'll probably need one more employee for around 60 to 90 days in ID around June-August to do mechanical brushing. Going to need at least a little backpacking experience.
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Jan 31, 2018 07:11
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can't recommend you giving up on federal jobs enough, unless you have high vet preference scores or at the very least a master's degree and you're willing to wait 2-3 years making $14.50 an hour 4 months a year and laid off the rest.
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Feb 3, 2018 22:17
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Here's a couple pictures from our bridge reconstruction job we're doing currently in Virginia. The main glu-lam arches are being refurbished, but everything else is being replaced.  
thatguy fucked around with this message at 23:46 on Mar 12, 2018 |
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Mar 12, 2018 23:40
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treat posted:I'm an IC in Boise, ID working with the USGS on post-fire monitoring in the Owyhee mountains. I've been on this project two years already and It's pretty rough spending the entire summer in a treeless, rocky, burnt-out desert but I can't argue with contracts rounding out to ~50k annually. It's way more than I could reasonably earn in a year as a sole proprietor at just over $15/h with discretionary bonuses, but I'm in no position to hire anybody (not even sure that would fly as I work directly with USGS crews and use their vehicles/equipment). I was a CS admin for 5 years, W-2 work mainly. Some side stuff, but I'd worked for the Boy Scouts at Philmont in the late 90s in the conservation department doing trail work, and in 2004/2005 we decided we'd do contracting for the USFS doing the same thing (5 of us started, 2 of us now). Took a break in 2008, but essentially now it's ultra-full time and has been for almost a decade. Have a couple part-time employees and have to juggle multiple jobs at once to keep them busy. It just kind of morphed into that slowly. When we started I would immediately think gently caress no at bidding on a job for 250k, when now I'd have no problem seriously contemplating it. #1, I'd reorganize as an S-corp if you're alone. It's worth the added cost, you get a similar benefit in dividends vs wages payouts come tax time (LLCs also do, with some limitations.). The liability shield is worth it, accidental bullshit happens and liability insurance only covers so much. It does not involve a required lawyer, you just have to grind through the paperwork. #2 I'd narrow your scope of what you want to do. If you want to do env consulting, there is 100% going to be a trade group. Env consultants of america or w/e (I just made that name up), and there'll be a branch in idaho. Sign up for that poo poo, even if it's a hefty price tag for membership (Should be under 500/yr I'd guess since that won't be uberprofessional like an engineering trade group). And start going to meetings and w/e. They open a lot of doors at a local and state level that you wouldn't even think about. If you want to hang out and live in the Boise area, you're going to need multiple revenue sources. Federal jobs are the easiest to acquire because they have the least leeway in choosing a preferred contractor (lowest price weighted the most, Contracting officers have this bizarro world adversarial relationship with the fed org they work for). State/municipal that's where the trade group comes in handy, because states and cities give a ton of credence to buying local, word of mouth, local trade groups and expertise. Those fbo GSA-bullshit type services you get spam for, they aren't exactly a scam. Some of them are more scammy than others, but generally you pay 2k or 2500 a year and they do the legwork at a local/state/federal level to find jobs to bid on in your specific field. I've never used one before because finding fed jobs is ez and we've wanted to move around. If you want to look for federal jobs specifically, just learn to navigate fbo. Since most of our work is for the USFS, every week I end up reading through every single job the USFS puts out. BLM, NPS, they all do the same thing. I don't exactly know how your specific job is arranged, it sounds kind of like you're a 1099 subcontractor of a much larger contractor maybe? Also it's way more cozy with a federal agency than I've ever dealt with. USFS would sooner set me on fire than let us use one of their vehicles. If you don't have plat and you want a lot more detailed info and discussion send me an email at lollstein@gmail.com thatguy fucked around with this message at 03:42 on Mar 30, 2018 |
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Mar 29, 2018 19:38
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When it comes to trail construction on federal lands, every construction project involves a NEPA study. It's a long and involved project that has to balance a lot of different land demands, including historicity of the land, impact such as environmental and also traffic, competing land interests (logging, mining, w/e). The federal agency is responsible for balancing all those interests. Very detailed, and a long process. There's some leeway where a study takes place (a prism within 50 feet of expected construction every time we've seen one). Americorps groups are never involved with that part. They might have a year or two's worth of trailbuilding training/expertise from their leaders but not much more than that. NPS it's hit or miss on how much direct expertise trails-wise the recreation people might have, it's usually ok and sometimes very good. Forest Service, generally speaking in western national forests they have a great deal of trails expertise and usually have one or more dedicated trails people within recreation departments, and frequently have seasonal trail crews. Eastern forests it's the reverse, contractors and groups such as ATC crews have more expertise because they almost never have a dedicated trails person, and virtually never have a trail crew of any kind. At the forest we're in right now for instance (in VA, Appalachian trail goes through the Ranger district), they have a one man trail crew. He's the only guy who does anything hands-on trails related other than incidental stuff. The guy is 60, and as soon as he retires 100% guaranteed his position will never get filled again. If you're talking about design, depending on what kind of scale and how complicated, trails are designed by engineers/trail professionals (usually civil servants, depending on scope sometimes a contracted professional engineer) and occasionally contractors
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Apr 2, 2018 02:58
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Worst On Team posted:I'm currently putting in applications for 45 week internships with the US Forest Service through AmeriCorps/Mt Adams Institute. Hoping to end up in VA, but have a few back up positions available in IL. Anybody have any tips or experience with an internship? You don't want to do this. Americorps is not a foot in the door. It's a waste of 3-10 months of your time, Americorps groups will straight up lie saying it leads to something. It doesn't lead to poo poo other than padding their bottom line. The idea that the USFS has permanent jobs in recreation is a pipe dream, and even with vet pref there will literally always be better qualified people running for every job you qualify for. Here's what Americorps will lead to: A dead-end job paying $15/hr where you get laid off every single summer come November. Unless you're fire, there's absolutely no guarantee your jobs will even be there the next year. 1. The recreation people in permanent positions have master's degrees with vet pref already or they're old (Right now we're working for one who's got a master's degree and went to Afghanistan) 2. Literally one of them max per district in the east, and usually have mixed responsibilities. They also aren't hiring as people retire. 3. Western forests in the last 3-4 years have had their recreation budgets killed because of how user-based has now thrown more money at eastern forests, so they're never hiring people as they retire unless their jobs are 100% irreplaceable. 4. Eastern forests have used that money to throw jobs to contractors, since they have no or very little rec expertise anymore
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Jan 19, 2019 19:35
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Worst On Team posted:Thanks for the input. What would you recommend in stead? State DNR, state parks, even municipal will all have some kinds of internship programs of some kind. You'll likely be some state parks scumlord making 25k a year to start off with, but your housing will already be paid for and there will be a clear pathway up to managing a large piece of property (especially if you're in the state DNR). You'll be able to do fire management, wildlife management, recreation, just about anything if you want to focus on one thing. I mean I don't want to talk too much poo poo about how bad off the USFS is, but it's a tiny agency of the USDA (most people don't even know the difference between the USFS and the NPS), and 35% of the US population has been indoctrinated since reagan that federal service = government waste. Routinely we work for USFS people who refuse to retire solely because they know their job positions will go unfilled once they leave. It's loving pathetic.
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Jan 23, 2019 05:44
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Worst On Team posted:Thanks again. I'm not 100% attached to a federal position, and wouldn't mind a state position. A big portion of me wanting to go with this federal internship is that it gets me out of Maryland, and most recently I've found out that I can use my GI Bill in conjunction with this position (under the Serve America Act with BAH based out of DC), I'll be raking in a bit of nontaxable income. send me an email to lollstein@gmail.com, I'm going to need at least one guy next summer out in idaho starting in June. Can at least talk about other options even if it doesn't work out
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Jan 24, 2019 02:49
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I think my partner and I are going to be going to the one in March, although we may be too busy with the weather just straight loving up our production. I'd planned on the sustainable trails conference last year but ran into the same problem with getting too busy. I can count on one hand the number of trail professionals I've met in the field over the last 15 years PTBA member or not, there just aren't that many of us.
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Feb 22, 2019 23:08
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https://www.fbo.gov/index.php?s=opportunity&mode=form&id=dad0982b19b9877fd58a9f5a7a52a6dd&tab=core&tabmode=list&= This is a regional IDIQ for trail clearing in non-wilderness and wilderness in the Nez Perce NF in the middle of Idaho. It's spectacular country. Setting up a sole proprietorship and getting registered in Duns & Bradstreet to bid on federal jobs is easy. I know some of you guys have worked for SCA or the Americorps groups doing logout. I can answer any real questions people have about contracting and how it works, what your bids should look like, etc. It's an easy way to get out and do a lot of summertime backpacking trail work in country most people don't even know is there. You can PM me if you want some of the details. We're also buying one of these in the next month or two. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FhxbEtaf7rI&t=28s
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Feb 22, 2019 23:34
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Worst On Team posted:Just started my position with the USFS as a Timber and Natural Resource Management Intern. I'm working out of the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests. This poo poo is pretty awesome. Already set up to drive govies, working on getting my certs for tractors and UTVs, then getting the red card, chainsaw, and a bit further down the line, pesticides and herbicides. I'm also eyeballing some helicopter crew courses, but we'll have to see how that shakes out. It's going to be an educational 44 weeks. If anyone has any courses or certs that they'd recommend hit me up with them. Which district? We're working out of natural bridge atm, that's why I was asking. thatguy fucked around with this message at 22:02 on Mar 18, 2019 |
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Mar 15, 2019 20:07
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My partner and I run a business that does trail construction and maintenance, and we're looking to pick up a handful more employees for the summer. Our first full time employee came from SA 2 years ago. Generally it entails backpacking for anywhere from 5-14 days at a time and carrying tools while doing logout (bucking trees that have fallen over the winter) and minor trail maintenance (cleaning diversion bars). It contains both non-wilderness (chainsaws) and wilderness (crosscut saws). This is in the area around Missoula/Hamilton (across the border in Idaho), and also down towards Lewiston along US Highway 12 in both the Nez Perce/Clearwater and Bitterroot NFs. Pay rate is 15/hr and there's generally a huge amount of overtime (routinely 1k/wk paychecks) just how the way the runs work. Routinely we only have a day or two off while we're resupplying. It's mainly backpacking, changing your camp night to night as you're hiking along. None of your backpacking gear will be provided, although we do usually have extras of most items. You can PM me here, email me at hccjosh@gmail.com either one will work and we can have a longer conversation. We're known around the area and usually our supervisors are also running the district trail crews, so if you're interested in getting on a trail crew at some point we're good references. Work lasts into October, although college kids usually take off in August when school is going to start again.
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Apr 29, 2019 18:29
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starting an 11 mile bike and hiking trail network in colorado in april
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Dec 23, 2019 10:43
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Finishing up our job on a closed OHV area near Asheville and Charlotte. Thankfully we interact with virtually nobody. We're going to mad max caravan across the US in May, I'll be driving with virtually everything to build a bike trail in Black Hawk CO except for fuel and groceries, and we're going to be living as far from people as possible.Worst On Team posted:A day late and a dollar short, but Natural Bridge Station/Buena Vista (Glenwood-Pedlar). We're likely going to be expanding once the coronavirus passes over. I can't send you a PM but we're routinely looking for people. I pay significantly better on a hourly basis, but it has a few drawbacks (like living arrangements).
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Mar 25, 2020 15:07
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We've been doing a bike trail network for the city of Black Hawk out of Denver for a few months now, we have about 4 rideable miles and we're now the proud owners of a couple new excavators. I have no idea how we lucked into being successful while covid's going on, but we camp on top of the worksite and save on rent the whole time. At the same time I have a crew working for Nez Perce Clearwater NF in Idaho doing logout. This is going to end up being a great summer. Here's a half done rock drop to the switchback leading into another rock drop without any compaction. Dry as a loving bone right now 
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Jul 17, 2020 19:44
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Skutter posted:Is there a way for a[n older] noob to get in on this as a career potentially? I went back to school (again) and got an AS in "Environmental Science Technology" and then found approximately 0 jobs that my degree would relate to, even with all of the job and internship experience I had. I even joined the local networking group for environmental jobs (which was just a big circlejerk that new people were clearly not welcome in) and got zilch. Is there a backwards way to ge tin, like with volunteering or something? I'm in central FL, if that helps for any suggestions or advice. Is your interest in contracting, working as an employee for a contractor, or working for a public agency or something like a land trust? Do you know what you want to do? I can give you a thorough schooling in contracting for both private and public entities, and I know from experience it's difficult to get anything but seasonal temp work for most federal agencies.
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Jul 17, 2020 21:15
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I'd cast a wide net with GIS skills, it's basically indispensable for the majority of private and public work. If I wasn't doing trails that's the first skilled position I'd be looking at.
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Jul 19, 2020 02:45
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Fitzy Fitz posted:My people. How closely does your university work with land trusts and conservancies and the like?
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Jul 19, 2020 05:10
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Fitzy Fitz posted:Not that closely, but we're a land grant school, so we sort of do that internally, so to speak.. But I'm sure we have tons of informal connections through faculty relationships, student projects, and alumni employment, etc. We post plenty of land trust positions on our job board. I live near clemson, which is another land grant university and I'm both looking to network for jerbs but way more I'm looking for allies trying to get a bike network project off the ground in the upstate of SC, and the local imba chapter is both too far away and not particularly effective. Theres a lot of state and public lands there, but I've never navigated through the advocacy side of things when I'm trying to get something done that I wont necessarily be working on. Its infuriating to me since asheville is the eastern mecca of biking and South Carolina has both more contiguous land and it's less developed, yet is a black hole for developed rec.
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Jul 19, 2020 16:52
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Fitzy Fitz posted:Hmm. I helped out a bit with some MTB trail projects here, but the majority of the work was done by the local SORBA chapter. The city parks department was happy enough to give them access to some undeveloped park land as long as SORBA raised the money and did the work. I remember there being a good bit of out-of-town interest in the project just because people were happy to have another regional trail destination. All I can think of is cold contacting the landholders, Clemson's PRTM department, and any regional trail/conservancy organizations that might be relevant, but it sounds like you're already on that. If you can find an interested landowner, you might be able to source volunteer labor from college kids who need trailbuilding experience and bikers who want trails. You'd probably still need to raise money to hire an actual trail builder though. This specific sorba/imba chapter is tiny, I've already contacted them about this. Theyre also not real close, which is another problem. Usually on any design/build or build if they aren't yet involved they're the first people I go to, functioning groups are great when things work out. I do trail building for a living so I'm not too concerned about the construction and design part. I guess my real part is we're doing a large scale project near denver, and it's a mature area where rec is king. Land is limited and utterly hammered, so I see the clear potential every single day for city and counties, and where I live is highly rural, undeveloped and they'd kill for consistent traffic like the cities here are fighting over. It's just frustrating to me, because I legit love the upstate of SC and it's a rare or small project that I get over there, when it was literally nothing for the city here to throw 6 figures around. thatguy fucked around with this message at 17:51 on Jul 19, 2020 |
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Jul 19, 2020 17:45
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wizardofloneliness posted:After reading all this, I guess I got pretty lucky in only doing one FS seasonal job and then getting hired on by them as a permanent right afterwards. It definitely was not due to my qualifications, I just happened to be there at the right time. That was my first seasonal position and I wasn't really familiar with any of the USDA or DOI agencies or the job situations there. I have met a bunch of people who have done season after season and haven't managed to land a permanent job. Seems like a real crapshoot, especially for wildlife and rec stuff. I think I applied for over a hundred positions my first time around and it just gets exhausting. I am really glad I have more stable employment and don't have to worry about applying for things every six months, but at the same time I'm kind of jealous of the people I know who get to live and work in all these cool places and can just go wherever. I know this one dude who worked at Glacier for a bit and then did wildlife surveys in Hawaii and he even got housing for it too. But I have a TSP now and that's cool too I guess... This isn't exactly the norm but one of our inspectors In bitterroot NF was seasonal temp and a substitute teacher for 17 years before he finally got benefits. Hes one of those people you absolutely wanted hired too, a complete true believer who always put in more work than required, and was painfully cheerful and outgoing in every single interaction with the public no matter what.
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Jul 19, 2020 21:57
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Every time I think of WUI all I think of is this girl from Big Timber MT we hired telling us "oh sorry I can't come in this week another bear broke into our house while we were gone, ate everything and tore up all our furniture then we had to shoot him because he wouldn't leave
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Jul 22, 2020 21:49
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the loving cat dealer tricked me into buying 2, as soon as I saw them plopped down I immediately got a feeling of dread
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Jul 24, 2020 04:59
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“For my own part I wish the Bald Eagle had not been chosen the Representative of our Country. He is a Bird of bad moral Character. He does not get his Living honestly. You may have seen him perched on some dead Tree near the River, where, too lazy to fish for himself, he watches the Labour of the Fishing Hawk; and when that diligent Bird has at length taken a Fish, and is bearing it to his Nest for the Support of his Mate and young Ones, the Bald Eagle pursues him and takes it from him. “With all this Injustice, he is never in good Case but like those among Men who live by Sharping & Robbing he is generally poor and often very lousy. Besides he is a rank Coward: The little King Bird not bigger than a Sparrow attacks him boldly and drives him out of the District. He is therefore by no means a proper Emblem for the brave and honest Cincinnati of America who have driven all the King birds from our Country… “I am on this account not displeased that the Figure is not known as a Bald Eagle, but looks more like a Turkey. For the Truth the Turkey is in Comparison a much more respectable Bird, and withal a true original Native of America… He is besides, though a little vain & silly, a Bird of Courage, and would not hesitate to attack a Grenadier of the British Guards who should presume to invade his Farm Yard with a red Coat on.”
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Aug 5, 2020 12:22
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HenryJLittlefinger posted:The thing I’ve found about a lot of employers of technicians in natural resource disciplines (myself included), is that an ability to do field work in lovely conditions, live in relative discomfort a lot of the time, work independently and manage a project successfully, and not need babysitting from a supervisor is more important than a specific kind of scientific knowledge or schooling. Now, I do recreational trails and bridges including both non wilderness and wilderness work, and its a decent amount of heavy equipment use nowadays, but I can always teach some dude how to use an excavator or safely run all the equipment we use. But if the highest skilled guy needs to go back to an apartment or hotel room every night or can't use a little problem solving when I'm not around its never going to work.
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Aug 6, 2020 09:16
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Likely going to be working out of Boulder for the forseeable future with a 6-8 man crew, the amount of money they can throw at projects is astounding. Reminds me of stories from old timers in the USFS, talking about 60-man trail crews and massive trail projects that are basically unheard of today.
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Aug 19, 2020 15:14
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I'll be working out of Boulder CO next year doing two jobs simultaneously, a 4 mile multiuse trail around Eldora ski resort and Rollinsville, and a high level rockwork trail for the city with a good sized crew. Gonna be a busy summer.
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Nov 4, 2020 20:03
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