From archaeology to zoology, SCA members work in a range of different disciplines. Whether your dream is to be a ranger patrolling the backcountry or an environmental educator leading field trips, a biologist monitoring wildlife or an urban planner working to engage local communities, your career can start with SCA.

Most SCA members focus their service in the following areas. Each position is tagged as falling into a maximum of five of these categories These categories help applicants and partners better understand what a position entails and how best to find the appropriate member with the right skills, interests, and experience.

1. Visitor Services and Site Operations

Millions of Americans visit our nation’s treasured natural and cultural resources each year, and Visitor Services staff help to facilitate their experience in the outdoors. Positions that fall into this category may include:

  • Providing information to the public
  • Staffing visitor centers, bookstores, and kiosks
  • General site maintenance
  • Construction and carpentry
  • Administrative work

2. Education and Interpretation

Educators and interpreters play a crucial role in introducing visitors to the natural and cultural heritage of our public lands. Positions that fall into this category may include:

  • Leading walks and tours
  • Working with school groups
  • Traveling to schools and community sites to deliver programming
  • Creating environmental education curricula
  • Planning and hosting public events
  • Developing social media tools
  • Developing web or print content
  • Historic reenactment

3. Natural Resources Management

Natural Resource managers support and protect the diverse ecosystems that make up our environment. Positions that fall into this category may include:

  • Invasive species management
  • Native species restoration
  • Water quality monitoring
  • Riparian restoration
  • Forestry
  • Controlled burning and fuel mitigation
  • Wildfire management and prevention

4. Recreation Management

Our public lands offer unsurpassed recreational opportunities that require careful management. Positions that fall into this category may include:

  • Campsite monitoring
  • Solitude monitoring
  • Issuing and checking permits
  • Visitor use surveying
  • Preventative risk management
  • Roving trail patrol
  • River patrol

5. Cultural and Historical Resource Management

Our public lands offer not just biodiversity but also important cultural and historical resources to be preserved and shared with the public. Positions that fall into this category may include:

  • Archaeology fieldwork
  • Cultural and historical research
  • Planning museum exhibitions
  • Creating displays and other interpretive materials
  • Telling the stories of the people who inhabitated the site
  • Historic building preservation and restoration

6. Geographic Information Systems (GIS/GPS)

Geographic Information Systems provide a critical tool for mapping and monitoring public lands. Positions that fall into this category may include:

  • Mapping and monitoring trail systems
  • Mapping and monitoring coastal zones
  • Analyzing migration routes
  • Monitoring stream flow and hydrology
  • Collecting and processing digital images
  • Creating park maps and other resources for public use

7. Sustainability

A growing number of businesses are working towards sustainability as a way to maximize their positive impact on profit, people, and the environment. Positions that fall into this category may include:

  • Promoting corporate responsibility
  • Reducing environmental impact
  • Implementing green infrastructure
  • Supporting local food initiatives
  • Composting and recycling
  • Community agriculture
  • Public outreach

8. Backcountry and Trail Work

Extensive trail systems across our public lands require constant care to keep them open and safe for the public to enjoy. Positions that fall into this category may include:

  • Building new trails
  • Maintaining existing trails
  • Creating multiuse or accessible trails
  • Flagging and blazing trails
  • Building boardwalks and bridges
  • Benching
  • Treading
  • Rock work
  • Drainage work
  • Erosion control

9. Wildlife Management

Our National Parks, Forests, Refuges, and other public lands provide critical habitat for wildlife that must be conserved and protected. Positions that fall into this category may include:

  • Tagging and monitoring wildlife
  • Protecting threatened and endangered species
  • Managing non-native species
  • Habitat restoration
  • Wildlife rehabilitation
  • Fisheries management

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