2024 Wilderness Ranger Fellowship

The SBFC Wilderness Ranger Fellowship (WRF) program provides an immersive experience in Wilderness Trails conservation and management through hands-on stewardship. This 14 week position runs from 5/13/2024-8/16/2024. Fellows are paid volunteers who will receive a living stipend of $5950 spread across the 14 week term of service.

Upon arrival on May 13th, WRF’s will receive three weeks of training led by SBFC staff and professional Forest Service Wilderness & Trails managers. Training topics may include all of the following (with WFA and crosscut certification being mandatory):

● Wilderness First Aid/CPR certification

● USFS Crosscut Bucking certification

● Fundamentals of trail maintenance to various specifications

● Wilderness Act of 1964 history and significance

● Conducting Campsite Inventory and Solitude, Primitive and Unconfined Recreation (SPUR) Monitoring

● Leave No Trace principles and ethics

● Backcountry packing/nutrition/travel/navigation/communication

● Introduction to horsemanship and stock packing

● Leadership development, crew dynamics and interpersonal communication

Following training, for five hitches, from early June until mid-August, WRF’s will typically operate on the hitch schedule of 80+ hours. This means you will work 8 consecutive days, living and working in the backcountry, followed by 6 days off. Hitches primarily consist of performing a variety of different trail maintenance needs, and at times, backcountry campsite inventories and SPUR monitoring. Crews will vary in size from 4-12+ people depending on the needs of the project. Crews will be led by an SBFC Wilderness Trails Crew Leader and/or a United States Forest Service Wilderness Trails Technician. Being predominantly in Wilderness, trail maintenance will be performed using traditional tools such as hand saws, loppers, ax’s, pulaskis and crosscut saws. The physical requirements of living and volunteering in such large Wilderness complexes are arduous. Many days will require backpacking with tools (60+ lb packs at the start of some hitches) 10+ miles, and performing physically strenuous activities all day such as pulling saws, swinging axes at trees or pulaskis at dirt, and moving large boulders, trees and dirt from the trail. 

To find out more regarding the position, minimum qualifications, and common

questions, please go to: 

https://www.selwaybitterroot.org/fellowship