Other
Volunteer
Job Description
FROM: https://www.volunteer.gov/s/volunteer-opportunity/a093d000000YFawAAG/visitor-center-volunteer
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ADDRESS: El Morro National Monument; HC 61 Box 43; Ramah, New Mexico 87321
DEPT: National Park Service
DATES: 6/1/2022 – 9/30/2022
DESCRIPTION:
El Morro is seeking energetic and enthusiastic volunteers to assist our visitor services operations.
As a uniformed volunteer with the National Park Service, the volunteer serves as a front-line representative of the agency. The volunteer is responsible for providing current, accurate information about El Morro National Monument and the National Park Service (NPS) to visitors, along with information on surrounding areas.
Special Physical Requirements:
Volunteer will potentially spend a significant amount of time standing. From time to time, the volunteer may be asked to drive a government vehicle. Volunteer will rove park trails of uneven terrain. Park trails climb 250 feet and are moderately strenuous. Volunteer can assist with light trail maintenance and occasional snow removal, following park safety protocols and in accordance with the volunteer’s own comfort level and physical abilities.
Supervisory Controls
The volunteer works under the direct supervision of the Lead Interpretive Ranger. After receiving specific instructions, the volunteer performs routine assignments independently. The supervisor is available when problems or unusual situations arise. Supervisor spot checks routine work for accuracy, with closer review performed for more difficult or non-routine assignments.
Complexity
The volunteer contacts visitors, conducts sales, disseminates information and is occasionally required to perform multiple tasks. Assignments are primarily repetitive, consisting of clearly defined tasks. Questions regarding non-routine tasks are referred to the supervisor.
Goal / Outcome of job:
The results of the incumbent’s activities contribute to visitor enjoyment and understanding of the park area and the public’s appreciation of the National Park Service mission. These activities affect the NPS and its employees, visitors, land managers, and neighbors.
Compensation
Housing and utilities are provided on site. There is no stipend or monetary compensation.
Housing:
Please Note: Volunteers must work 32 hours a week to receive park housing.
Housing is provided on site, free of charge. Depending on availability, the housing may be either an efficiency apartment, or it may be shared housing in a bunkhouse, where the volunteer has his/her own bedroom, and the living room, kitchen, bathroom, and communal spaces are shared. If the volunteer has their own RV, there is also an RV pad with full hookups available in the monument.
Description of El Morro National Monument
All other rocks in America do not together hold so much history as do those of El Morro National Monument. Rising 200 feet above the valley floor, this massive sandstone bluff was a welcome landmark for weary travelers. A reliable waterhole hidden at its base made El Morro (or Inscription Rock) a popular campsite. Beginning in the late 1500s Spanish explorers and soldiers, followed by American surveyors, immigrants and soldiers, passed by El Morro. While they rested in its shade and drank from the pool, many inscribed their signatures, dates and messages. Ancestral Puebloans, living in an 800-room pueblo on top of the bluff over 700 years ago, began this trend by carving hundreds of petroglyphs. El Morro was proclaimed the second National Monument in the National Park system on December 8, 1906. The vast continuum of human history inscribed upon the rock and preserved in the ancient ruins makes El Morro National Monument a handbook of cultural history of the Southwest. The majestic bluff, shady pool, high desert forest (7200 ft.), and sweeping vistas make this a natural wonder as well.
The volunteer primarily assists with daily operations of the visitor center, aiding seasonal and permanent staff with a variety of duties. These include, but are not limited to: staffing the visitor center; handling bookstore sales; operating a cash register; opening and closing facilities according to standard operating procedures; assisting with organized groups; recording visitation statistics; answering telephones; driving a government vehicle; utilizing park radios; assisting with community outreach events; roving park trails; assisting, as needed, with basic emergency response;and helping with special projects.
Special projects could include, but are not limited to, such things as: library tasks; invasive species control; rockfall and inscription monitoring; campground patrols; assistance with interpretive displays and publications; social media efforts; and light trail maintenance. We are also very receptive to volunteers creating special projects based on their own unique interests and skills, and with direction, oversight and support provided by park staff and the Volunteer Coordinator.
Skills and Qualifications Required:
- Excellent oral communication skills
- Customer service experience
- Skill in working with people
- Cash handling experience
- Ability to hike moderately strenuous trails of uneven terrain
- Desire to learn about El Morro’s Cultural and Natural history
- Must be able to pass a background check
- Conservation Education
- General Assistance
- Visitor Information
- Working with People
Work Environment:
El Morro is a remote duty station. The closest town for groceries, restaurants, and other services is Grants, NM, approximately 55 miles east of the monument. Due to the lack of public transportation in the area, the volunteer must have a personal vehicle. At El Morro, cell reception and WiFi may be available, limited, or altogether non-existent, depending on the volunteer’s carrier service. WiFi, however, is available in the employee housing area.
- Slip, trip, and fall hazards
- Yes