SCA New Hampshire

The SCA New Hampshire Conservation Corps is a partnership between the Student Conservation Association, The New Hampshire Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and AmeriCorps. Since 1994, the SCA New Hampshire Conservation Corps has provided nearly one million hours of service to the lands and people of New Hampshire. Each year, volunteers contribute tens of thousands of service hours, providing environmental education programming to the state’s residents and visitors, and completing conservation service projects that improve and protect the state’s recreational, environmental, and cultural resources.

The mission of the SCA New Hampshire Corps is to serve the communities and public lands of New Hampshire while building leadership and technical skills in the conservation field. SCA New Hampshire Corps members perform direct hands-on service while developing their ethic of service and citizenship. These highly motivated young adults, usually ages 21-29, enhance and protect natural areas through environmental education programs, interpretive ranger programs, and conservation stewardship projects that include trail and recreational management projects as well other land and historic preservation projects.

Current Opportunities

The SCA New Hampshire Conservation Corps is currently hiring Field Crew Members and Interpretive Rangers. Both positions will live and learn alongside one another during the beginning of the program before splitting up to complete their specific service activities for the rest of the program. The program hires 18 Field Crew Members and nine Interpretive Rangers to assist the state each year.

New Hampshire Conservation Corps – Field Crew Member
This position serves communities throughout New Hampshire by completing conservation service projects to improve and protect the state’s natural, cultural and recreational resources from the Atlantic Coast to the White Mountains and beyond. Expected dates: April 1 – Oct. 31, 2024. Pay: Living Allowance, $6,820.

New Hampshire Conservation Corps – Interpretive Ranger
This position serves communities throughout New Hampshire by providing environmental education programs to the state’s residents and visitors through the Discover the Power of Parks program. In this program you will connect residents and visitors through fun and engaging programs to connect visitors with the natural, cultural, and recreational resources of New Hampshire State Parks. Expected dates: April 1 – Oct. 31, 2024. Pay: Living Allowance, $6,820.

Benefits

General Benefits for the Field Crew Members and Interpretive Rangers

• Stipend – $6,820 total for the service term
• Health Insurance provided – $453/month
• All food is provided – estimated value is $1,500/member
• Housing is provided – estimated value is $4,300 for the term of service
• Onsite laundry – $200 value
• AmeriCorps Education Award $4,826.50, for qualifying educational expenses and loans, upon completion of 1,200 hours of service

Specific Position Benefits

Field Crew Member Additional Position Benefits:

• Game of Logging Chainsaw Certification* – $500
• Rigging and Griphoist for Trail Work* – $500
• Conservation Work Skills – Trail Construction and Maintenance Training – $450
• Carpentry Training – $350
• Leave No Trace (LNT) Outdoor Ethics Training – $150
• Camp skills training
• Leadership training
• *Field Crew Members will receive one of these trainings.

Interpretive Ranger Additional Position Benefits:

• Certified Interpretive Guide training – $400
• Leave No Trace (LNT) Outdoor Ethics – $100
• Hands-on training and experience in education, including program development, lesson and curriculum planning, and evaluation for school as well as outdoor adventure-based programming – Two weeks of training
• Job development and exploration with experts in related career fields
• Leadership training throughout the program
• Job development and exploration with experts in a related career

Field Crew Partners include the State of New Hampshire Division of Parks and Recreation, federal land management agencies, county conservation districts, town conservation commissions, local land trusts and other environmental non-profits throughout New Hampshire. Some of the program’s major partners over the past 28 years include:

• The White Mountain National Forest
• Saint-Gaudens National Historic Park
• State Parks, including Monadnock, Crawford Notch, Franconia Notch, Bear Brook, Umbagog Lake and a host of other highly trafficked parks
• Sullivan, Rockingham and Belknap Counties
• Town conservation commissions, including New Boston, Nashua, Hooksett, Antrim, Wolfeboro and more
• State non-profits, including New Hampshire Audubon and Nature Conservancy
• Local land trusts – Bear Paw Regional Greenways, Monadnock Conservancy, Society for the Protection of New Hampshire’s Forests, Squam Lakes Association and others across the state

Interpretive Ranger Partners include New Hampshire State Parks and educational organizations and institutions throughout the state. Some of the recurring partners include:

New Hampshire State Parks

• Bear Brook
• Pawtuckaway
• Franconia Notch
• Crawford Notch
• Odiorne State Park
• Wallis Sands State Beach
• Umbagog Lake
• White Lake
• Greenfield
• Monadnock
• Miller
• YMCA’s in New Hampshire’s Merrimack Valley Region
• Boys and Girls Club of Manchester and Central New Hampshire
• Girls Inc.
• The Center for New Americans
• In May and again in the fall, the program works with dozens of schools within a 45-minute drive of Bear Brook State Park that include the towns of Concord, Manchester, Hooksett, Allenstown, Pembroke Deerfield and other nearby communities
• During the fall, Interpretive Rangers deliver programs for schools, nonprofits and other local organizations in the communities adjacent to their assigned parks

Highlights

The New Hampshire Conservation Corps is unique in that it is based within Bear Brook State Park at Spruce Pond Camp, which was developed by the Civilian Conservation Corps and Works Progress Administration in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The camp’s location in the middle of a 10,000-acre park has access to forty miles of trails for exploring, making it an idyllic setting for living, learning, and immersing oneself in all things nature and outdoor recreation.

The program’s AmeriCorps members have served over one million hours protecting the state’s natural, cultural, and recreational resources, as well as educating the public on all things related to the environment and responsible recreation in New Hampshire.

Agency Partners