Community Volunteer Ambassador - Mesa Verde National Park

Position Details:

Stewards Individual Placements, a program of Conservation Legacy, provides individuals with service and career opportunities to strengthen communities and preserve our natural resources. The Community Volunteer Ambassador (CVA) Program combines the strength of a national leader in conservation service with the National Park Service to train a diverse group of emerging leaders to assist park units in building lasting connections to communities.

Mesa Verde National Park (MEVE) plans to expand use and reliance on Volunteer.gov, including recruitment for RV sites within the park. This will help to expand our volunteer cadre. Traditionally, volunteers were selected within the park by reaching out to friends and connections with existing volunteers; using Volunteer.gov to expand that reach will help to expand the program, reduce paperwork, and allow the CVA to focus on program expansion in a sustainable way. It will also allow for a more diverse and inclusive volunteer program as it expands our reach outside existing networks. This will allow us to advertise volunteer opportunities in tribal communities, on public radio, and across the nation more easily, creating a diverse set of volunteers committed to helping MEVE be all it can be.

MEVE also plans to expand volunteer capabilities at Yucca House National Monument, as recent legislation and land acquisition will expand the site by 160 acres. Interpretation and NPS presence at the site is minimal at present, so volunteer recruitment, selection, and placement at that site will be essential to seeing success. These prospective volunteers will help to establish trails, work on wayside panels or other interpretive products, orient visitors, provide feedback, and/or create interpretive materials for the NPS App. At YUHO, we have an ongoing need for invasive plant species control and monitoring as well, providing a specific need for other volunteers.

Volunteers are also needed in several capacities at MEVE, including aforementioned projects, the operation of Interpretation, and as trail monitors, rovers, and graffiti busters. The Visitor and Research Center is much better with more volunteers to orient visitors, while the museum (recently reopened post-pandemic) historically had volunteers staffing the desk, helping with visitors, running a Junior Ranger Table, or assisting with interpretive programs or traffic control. All of those opportunities may be brought back with the right level of support and supervision across the park.

Site Description:

Mesa Verde National Park's 115 regular annual volunteers, plus intermittent volunteers, serve in various capacities in the park. Spread out over 81.25 square miles, Mesa Verde National Park has two main visitor centers, 30+ miles of trail, a half-dozen regularly visited cliff dwellings, and usually around 650,000 visitors each year. Volunteers help to orient, teach, and educate visitors, monitor sites, help with SARs and other medical needs, and work to keep the park running. Volunteers also assist with a variety of natural and cultural resource projects, such as bear outreach and education, wildlife monitoring and research, feral horse management, vegetation management, Adopt a Trail program, and archeological site stabilization. The CVA would help build capacity with any and all of those projects. The CVA also builds capacity and structure for existing volunteer initiatives, such as the vegetation/landscaping crew and ongoing service project opportunities for youth groups and Scout troops.

Position Responsibilities:

• Implementing increased use of/changeover to volunteer.gov for data, hours reporting, selection, and volunteer program expansion.
• Assisting with selection, coaching, supervision, and scheduling of volunteers park wide.
• Expanding volunteer opportunities by working with various operations and teams, supervisors, and defining/expanding volunteer capacity.
• Working with supervisors across the park to ensure volunteer programs are supported, receive their needed supplies, and report safety and work issues up, across, and down as needed.
• Expansion of residential/RV VIP programs to include longer-term volunteer opportunities.
• Revise, expand, and distribute volunteer handbooks, guidance, and support to all operations across the park as needed.
• Expand volunteer selection criteria and process to include less-represented volunteer groups at the park.

CVA Minimum Requirements:

• Data and people-driven position require a relevant skillset.
• Outgoing and comfortable with public speaking
• Flexible and responsive to needs of site and others.
• Able to communicate clearly and well, both in person, via email, over the phone, and over radio communications.
• Able to stand for long periods of time, work/speak with visitors and volunteers, carry up to 50 pounds intermittently, and walk distances up to three miles on a semi-regular basis.
• Participate in the CVA National Early Service Training in late March/early April 2024 (date TBD)
• Be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident.
• Be 18-30 years old at time of service (veterans up to 35 years old)
• High School Diploma/GED
• Pass fingerprint-based FBI, state criminal, and a national sex offender checks.
• Be able to provide proof of a driver’s license and complete a MVR check
• Must be over 21 years old or have had license for at least 3 years to be insured in this position

Preferred Qualifications:

• Background in volunteer management, media studies, communications, history, archeology, anthropology, recreation, tourism management, environmental education, geology, biology, forestry, or a related field is preferred.
• Effective public speaking skills are preferred; this position often interacts with the public while working with volunteer and interpretation staff.
• Ability to climb ladders, go through tunnels and enclosed spaces for a limited distance, and physical fitness to work outside in a variety of weather conditions and temperatures ranging from sub-freezing to 115 degrees in the sun.
• Social media and photography/video skills are beneficial in this position to document, advertise, and promote volunteer programs and opportunities.
• Computer skills are useful for working with volunteer.gov and general work requirements.

Additional Information:

Mesa Verde offers housing that is typically comfortable and isolated. Internet access, phone service, and other connectivity is very limited within the park. While localized wifi is available for the public, those locations are away from the housing area and require walking or driving to gain connectivity, unless the CVA has some other connection method. The size of the park means that without a car and driver's license, the position would be very difficult to complete effectively, simply due to the lack of groceries and other supplies that require travel to town.

The park is gorgeous and offers access to landscapes and sites that most folks will never get. Mesa Verde is also centrally located, with access to northern New Mexico (Albuquerque and Santa Fe are a five hour drive away), southeast Utah (Moab is about three hours drive away), and northeastern Arizona (including Canyon de Chelly and Monument Valley), not to mention local Colorado sites and opportunities for recreation.

Benefits:

• CVA will receive a weekly stipend of $600
• Housing provided on-site.
• Limited health care/childcare benefits
• The position is eligible for an AmeriCorps Education Award $6,895.00 (pre-tax) upon successful completion of the program
• $1,200 in professional development funds for training, networking, conferences, and/or travel.
• Networking opportunities within the National Park Service and partnering organizations
• Public Land Corps Hiring Authority
• Week-long in-person training at NPS site with travel/meal expenses covered.

How to Apply 

Please visit Community Volunteer Ambassador (cvainternships.org) to review “Member Positions” by region and find instructions on how to apply.  

The CVA position will start on Monday, January 22nd, 2024, and run for 48 weeks until Friday, December 20th, 2024. Applicants will need to apply here: https://form.jotform.com/StewardsIPP/cva-member-application-winter-2024. Application form requires a resume, cover letter, professional references. 

Please ensure your cover letter addresses how your experience aligns with the CVA program, your experience working with diverse populations, and position details for this park/position. You may submit one application for multiple positions by selecting all sites you are interested in. 

Applications Deadline 

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. First review will occur in early November. Final deadline is Sunday, December 10th, 2023. 

For Application Questions: 

Please contact Geoff Elliot, Program Director at gelliot@conservationlegacy.org 

Conservation Legacy is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to hiring a breadth of diverse professionals and encourage members of diverse groups to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, political affiliation, protected veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager.