Crew Lead - Riverscape Restoration

About the role

We are currently seeking traveling restoration leads for our crews of stream restoration technicians! Restoration crews will be traveling in teams of 5-10 people building, and potentially monitoring, low-tech, process-based restoration (LTPBR) structures. These structures will include Beaver Dam Analogs and Post-Assisted Log Structures. Restoration crews will spend their season outdoors; living and working in remote locations throughout the west.

Field life is rugged and rewarding. Crew members will be living in remote locations - often with limited amenities. Crews will meet at job sites or other pre-determined locations before each hitch, and should primarily expect to camp at each worksite during the hitch. However, Anabranch will provide travel trailers, short-term rental housing, or hotel stays when possible during on-hitch time, location dependent. Accommodations are available during hitch, and typically dorm-style living with communal meal prep, shared kitchens, and shared sleeping quarters. Teams will travel often - generally moving to a new project site for each hitch.

Work schedules are typically eight day hitches of 10-hour shifts followed by six days off. Sometimes hitch schedules may be adjusted to four 10-hour shifts followed by three days off, or five 8-hour shifts followed by two days off when necessary. All necessary camping gear (other than sleeping bags) as well as all necessary safety gear, waders, and wading boots will be provided. Additionally, per diem is afforded to the group for family-style grocery shopping and meal preparation.

What you'll do

Restoration lead daily responsibilities will include supervising 5-10 restoration technicians and planning of implementation including safety, training, accommodations, food, and travel. They will also be responsible for equipment upkeep, maintenance, and repairs, and implementing equipment and safety protocols for their crew of technicians. Leads work with each other, our project managers, and restoration planners to plan and coordinate logistics of each hitch and project as a whole. Applicants can anticipate a breakdown of job duties in terms of time commitment similar to the following:

● 5-10% Training & continuing education

● 10-15% Equipment repair, maintenance, and management

● 60-70% Crew management & restoration construction

● 10-15% Miscellaneous tasks

Restoration crew job duties are to locally acquire natural building materials (e.g., brush, woody debris, & rock), stage said materials, and construct beaver dam analogs (BDAs), post-assisted log structures (PALS), and other low-tech structures for riverscape restoration projects. Constructing BDAs and PALS entails cutting and hauling slash to degraded streams, constructing instream structures, and pounding posts via hydraulic post pounder to lock everything in place. Construction utilizes a variety of tools, including but not limited to: hand tools, chainsaws, GripHoists, hydraulic post pounders, ATV/UTVs, trailers, and more.

Qualifications

• Strong leadership skills
• Positive attitude
• Ability to work in a team environment
• Ability to communicate clearly and regularly
• Ability and willingness to learn in the field, in trainings, and from supervisors
• Ability to work safely in remote and adverse conditions
• Conflict-resolution and problem solving skills
• Flexibility with ever-changing schedules
• Self-motivated with situational awareness to complete various tasks
• Comfort with manual labor and/or physical fitness
• Must be able to safely lift and carry 55 pounds; packing heavy loads of equipment in to and out of sites is often required
• A valid driver’s license
• Eligibility to work in the United States

Desired Qualifications

• Experience with LTPBR
• Experience in related maintenance, construction, monitoring or management activities such as conservation corps, fire-fighting, riparian planting, landscaping, trail maintenance or construction, forest thinning, arboriculture and/or logging

Benefits

• Paid sick leave accrual
• Overtime eligible
• Time-and-a-half pay for worked company holidays
• Group meal per-diem
• Employee discount programs
• SEP-IRA Retirement plan (after 3 years of employment)
• ICHRA contributions

Important Dates

• Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Applications and positions are open until filled.