Riverscape Restoration Technician – MT

Location: Helena, MT is home base where the crew will meet before each hitch and end each hitch. Work sites will vary throughout Montana and Wyoming with an emphasis on projects located outside of Miles City, MT. With prior approval, technicians have the option to meet the crew at the work site if needed. 

Start Date: TBD, but somewhere in the window of May 16th to May 30, 2024. The start date will be finalized by early April. 

Duration: The field season is active from May through November. We encourage anyone with any availability within this window to apply; however, priority will be given to candidates with greater availability.

Number of Positions: 6 Full-time Seasonal

We are currently seeking traveling team members for our stream restoration crews! The Montana and Wyoming restoration crew will be traveling in teams of 5-10 people building and 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.

Primary Responsibilities:

The primary 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 in stream 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.

Position Description:

Field life is rugged and rewarding. Crew members will be living in remote locations – often with limited amenities. Crews will meet at our storage facility in Helena, MT location before each hitch, and should primarily expect to camp at each worksite. However, Anabranch will provide travel trailers, short-term rental housing, or hotel stays when possible, location dependent. Accommodations are 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 week).

Work schedules are typically eight 10-hour shifts followed by 6 days off. Sometimes hitch schedules may be adjusted to four 10-hour shifts followed by 3 days off. All necessary camping gear (other than sleeping bags) as well as all necessary safety gear, waders, and wading boots will be provided. Crew members will receive a modest stipend for use towards the purchase of hiking boots, work pants, or other necessary attire. Additionally, per diem is afforded to the group for family-style grocery shopping and meal preparation.

Minimum qualifications:

• Ability and willingness to learn in the field and in trainings
• Ability to work safely in remote and adverse conditions
• Flexibility with ever-changing schedules
• Ability to work in a team environment
• Ability to communicate clearly and regularly
• Positive attitude
• Willingness to follow instructions
• Self-motivated with situational awareness
• Comfort with manual labor and/or physical exertion
• Must be able to safely lift and carry 55 pounds; packing heavy loads of equipment in 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 federal holidays
• Meal per-diem & gear stipend
• Employee discount programs
• SEP-IRA Retirement plan
• Bonus pay upon completion of agreed term

Important Dates: Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis starting on February 1. Applications and positions are open until filled.