Volunteer
Job Description
FROM: https://www.volunteer.gov/s/volunteer-opportunity/a093d000000l8oKAAQ/interpretive-volunteer-feb-may
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ADDRESS: Gila Cliff Dwellings National Monument; 26 JIM BRADFORD TRAIL; Mimbres, New Mexico 88049
DEPT: National Park Service
DATES: 2/21/2023 – 5/31/2023
DESCRIPTION:
Join a dynamic volunteer team at the only National Park Service site that shares the history of the Mogollon culture. Volunteers provide many types of interpretive services including staffing the visitor center information desk, enhancing visitor experiences at the trailhead, and orienting visitors.
Have you ever wanted to find out what it’s like to be a park ranger? Are you seeking to learn and expand your skills as an interpreter? Then Gila Cliff Dwellings may be the perfect opportunity.
- Volunteers seeking or having experience presenting interpretive dialogue for the cliff dwellings are welcome.
- Volunteers also provide informal interpretation related to surrounding cultural and natural resources.
- Volunteers staff the Gila Visitor Center providing regional orientation and information to visitors.
- Training is provided.
Volunteers live and work at an altitude of about 5800 feet (1780m). The park is open year-round, and volunteers spend 75% – 100% of their workday outside and will be exposed to a wide range of weather conditions and temperatures. Staffing the cliff dwellings requires a 2–3-hour block where you will be standing for extended periods of time. To reach the cliff dwellings you will hike an unpaved one-mile loop trail that is steep and strenuous several times a day, fairly quickly. The 185-foot elevation gain (and loss) traveling to the dwellings is the equivalent of climbing 18 flights of stairs with no handrails. All volunteers must be able to hike the trail more than once a day.
Volunteers are asked to commit to a minimum 32 hour work week, for three months. There is flexibility in start and end dates. Longer stays are possible if both parties find it beneficial to extend the term of service.
The national monument is located within the remote Gila Wilderness of southwestern New Mexico. The monument and park housing is a 44 mile drive from the town of Silver City, NM. Enjoy amazing scenery and outstanding local recreational opportunities including hiking, biking, photography, wilderness hot springs, wildlife observation, and much more.
A limited number of dorm rooms for singles are usually available and there may be RV sites with full hookups available.
We have top-of-the-line Starlink internet for volunteers! There is no data cap, and it is free for all VIPs to use. Although there is no cell service, wifi calling will work with smart phones. In case of a power outage, land-line phones are also available at the visitor center.
NOTE: Please include three references (with phone numbers) Couples must complete applications for EACH person.
Due to the remoteness, reliable personal transportation and a valid driver’s license are required.
- Provide orientation and informal interpretation to visitors going to the dwellings and wilderness hikers. You will be alternately working at the cliff dwellings, the trailhead, and the visitor center. You will be responsible for providing information and education for visitors and will be expected to be familiar with resource knowledge once training is complete.
- Assisting the cooperating association to make sales, clean, stock, price, and other retail tasks.
- Some basic maintenance is done by all staff. This includes basic cleaning of vault toilet, restrooms, visitor center and park vehicles. Occasionally there are special projects such as events and working in our community garden, etc.
A background in customer service is preferred. We will provide training on interpretation, customer service, the monument’s history, the Mogollon culture, etc. Being able to work well as part of a team and bringing a good attitude to work are the most important qualifications!
- General Assistance
- Public Speaking
- Visitor Information
- Working with People
75%-100% of the work is performed outside either at the trailhead or within the cliff dwellings. The trail to the dwellings is a one-mile round-trip hike with an elevation gain of 185 feet. This is equivalent to climbing about 18 flights of stairs with no handrails. All volunteers must be able to navigate this trail fairly quickly, multiple times a day.
Elevation for the park is about 5700′. The trail is intentionally unpaved and as natural as possible to create an experience similar to that of the Mogollon. The trail is rocky, uneven, winding and strenuously steep.