| Public Land Name: | Tongass National Forest | | Position Title: | Cave Resource Technician (2 positions) | | Position ID Number: | 175 | | Location: | Thorne Bay, AK | | Position Description: | The primary duty of the GeoCorps participant will be to assist a Forest geologist in updating and expanding the inventory of caves and karst features on Prince of Wales and surrounding islands. Field work will include re-location searches for known but poorly documented cave entrances, locating and mapping new unknown cave entrances, and recording vital resource data (GPS locations, hydrology, geologic data, etc.) on entrances to caves. It will also include placing permanent metal tags at cave locations. Office work will include combing records for caves that have not been field checked and entering data concerning caves into a master cave database in GIS. This will include entry of cave data into a cave data management program which will be integrated into a subsurface watershed map in GIS. The Forest has need of organized baseline inventory data in order to address cave-related management goals such biological inventories. The selected individuals will also have the opportunity to assist with other cave-related and karst hydrology research, including water sampling and water quality projects. Due to the remote field based nature of this work, two participants will be selected for this position. A completed Government security background check application will be required prior to starting this position . | | Qualifications: | Applicants must have completed at least three years towards a geoscience or geoscience-related degree. Graduate students are welcome to apply. Coursework related to karst topography, geomorphology, or hydrogeology is highly desirable. Applicants must be physically able to bushwhack long distances through forest vegetation in areas with no trails. The applicant must be able to read basic topographic and geologic maps as well as orient in the field using GPS and/ or compass. Experience with caving and cave mapping is greatly preferred. | | Position Dates: | May - August; 12 weeks, dates flexible | | Payment: | $2750; housing provided; travel allowance available | | Housing Available: | Housing will be provided at no cost to the participant. Housing while in Thorne Bay will be in a Forest Service bunkhouse that houses other Forest Service seasonals during the summer. Depending on the amount of seasonals, the participants may share a room. A full kitchen is provided with all cooking supplies. Laundry facilities are provided at no cost to the participant. Linens and laundry soap are the responsibility of the participant. Grocery store is located approximately 0.5 mile from accommodations. Participants may spend up to five days per week living in remote field camps with no laundry or phone access. Field accommodations will range from fifth wheel trailers to camping in provided tents. Food and cooking equipment is provided in field camps. | Physical/Natural
Environment: | The Tongass National Forest is the largest forest in the National Forest System, encompassing over 6.9 million hectares covering the islands of the Alexander Archipelago and the narrow band of mainland from Dixon Entrance to Icy Bay. The vegetation of southeast Alaska is a temperate rainforest, with average temperatures ranging from 1 to 9° C. Precipitation is frequent, occurring on approximately 220 days during the year with June the driest and October the wettest month on average. Rainfall is variable, tending to increase dramatically with increases in elevation, and averaging from 660 mm to 5,588 mm per year. Prince of Wales Island is the largest island in the Alexander Archipelago at approximately 7,174 square kilometers, and the third largest island in the United States of America. Elevation ranges from sea level along the coastline to 1,218 meters at the highest point. Precipitation levels fall into the higher range for southeast Alaska, averaging approximately 4,064 mm annually. The island has the largest road system in southeast Alaska and the largest town on the island consists of 1,175 residents. Prince of Wales Island is part of the Alexander terrane, a large crustal fragment with a depositional history ranging from the late Precambrian to the Early Jurassic. The Alexander terrane is partially composed of fossiliferous and largely undeformed or unmetamorphosed interbedded massive carbonate breccias of the Heceta Formation. The Heceta Formation represents collapsed island shelves as well as reef and shallow water limestone originating in the Northern Hemisphere during the Silurian period (408 – 438 mya). Prince of Wales Island contains approximately 1,813 square kilometers of karst. These karst areas are concentrated on the north end of the island and surrounding smaller islands, where over 500 caves have been mapped. | | Work Environment: | Fieldwork will consist of hiking through the rainforest which contains, at times, thick vegetation and copious amounts of precipitation. Tasks will involve moderate to strenuous physical exertion including long periods of hiking, climbing, or standing. Applicants should expect hiking through hazardous rough terrain in rainy weather. Good rain gear (such as Helly Hansen PVC bibs and coat) is recommended. Most locals wear rubber boots such as Xtra Tufs or other wellies when hiking in the backcountry in order to keep their feet dry, but any sturdy hiking boots are acceptable. Thorne Bay, Alaska is a small town inhabited by roughly 400 people. The town contains a grocery store, sporting goods store, video and liquor store, post office, library, float plane dock, and gas station. Prince of Wales Island has several communities; the largest of these is Craig, located approximately 45 minutes south of Thorne Bay on paved roads. | | # of current Applicants: | 26 |
If you have questions about the application and selection process, please contact Anny Jones. If you have questions about any aspect of the position — description, qualifications, housing, dates — please contact the primary or secondary contact below:
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