Forestry Team Member - Tahoe National Forest, American River Ranger District

Forestry Team Member - Tahoe National Forest, American River Ranger District

American Conservation Experience (ACE), a nonprofit Conservation Corps, in partnership with the U.S. Forest Service, is seeking 5 Forestry Technicians to contribute to timber survey projects alongside Tahoe National Forest Staff.

For more information about ACE, please visit our website.

Start Date: May 11th, 2026 (05/11/2026)

Estimated End Date: November 6th, 2026 (11/06/2026)

* a 16-week minimum commitment is required *

American River Ranger District (Foresthill, California).

The Tahoe National Forest is located in the northern Sierra Nevada east of Sacramento and extends from the foothills across the Sierra crest to the California state line. It includes over 850,000 acres of public land interspersed with 350,000 acres of private land in a checkerboard ownership pattern. Rivers, snow‑capped peaks and dense forests offer outstanding recreation year‑round. A complex set of ecosystems are found as the terrain ascends from 1,500 ft along the western boundary to over 9,000 ft along the crest.

The forest provides a variety of resources and opportunities and is managed by the Forest Service.

The American River Ranger District is located in Foresthill, California. Foresthill is a beautiful mountain community located 17 miles east of Auburn and I‑80. Foresthill is surrounded on the south and west by the Auburn State Recreation Area, on the north by BLM lands, and on the east by National Forest. The district is distinguished with a portion of Granite Chief Wilderness, the North Fork American Wild River and Placer County Big Trees (northernmost naturally occurring grove of Giant Sequoias).

For more information about the American River Ranger District, please visit the Tahoe National Forest website.

Forestry Team members will be part of a small marking crew performing a variety of timber sale preparation (TSP) duties that include— but are not limited to— timber marking, timber cruising, and sale layout of both ground and aerial systems as part of the forest health partnership.

• Timber Sale Layout (80%): flagging, boundary marking, GPS tracking, and using silvicultural prescriptions to mark timber.
• Timber Cruising (15%)
• Various Office Tasks (5%)

Field work often requires moderate to strenuous physical exertion, including walking, bending, and climbing under adverse conditions for long periods of time. Potential risk of falls due to uneven terrain, risk of insect bites, contact with poisonous plants, etc. Duties will be conducted during conditions such as rain, snow, wind, dust, extreme heat and cold. Hardhat, gloves, and other safety equipment are provided.

This 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.

• GPS harvest unit boundaries and determine sale units.
• Apply silvicultural prescriptions and marking guides to designate timber, independently or with guidance.
• Bring to the attention of responsible individuals, situations on the ground that are inconsistent with guidelines.
• Either as a certified timber cruiser or under the supervision of one, apply the instructions issued in a cruise plan, take and record tree measurements, and determine defects.
• Observe and report areas of possible archaeological significance, and sightings of sensitive, threatened or endangered wildlife species.
• Planning, decisions, and judgments made in this position affect long‑term timber management activities, other resources, and forest health.
• Accuracy of the work affects the quality of residual resource values such as timber stands, visual quality, water quality, and all resources related to timber harvest.

Monday – Thursday, 7:00 am–5:30 pm. Occasional Fridays, if necessary.

May include staying at barracks (during the work week) near Emigrant Gap, due to the distance needed to travel to some work sites.

The ACE Member is expected to contribute…