Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve – Preventative Search and Rescue Individual Placement

Northwest Youth Corps

Individual Placement

National Park Service

Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve

Arco, Idaho

position Title: Preventative Search and Rescue Individual Placement – 640 hours

Summary: The National Park Service is recruiting one summer individual placement to provide Preventative Search and Rescue (PSAR) at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. The members will serve with the Recreational Technicians team within the Visitor Services Division. The primary purpose of this individual placement is to perform a variety of duties associated with preventing search and rescue incidents from occurring within the Monument.

About Northwest Youth Corps (NYC):

Northwest Youth Corps was created in 1984 to offer teenagers and young adults an education-based, work experience modeled after the historic Civilian jobshiringnearme.org Corps of the 1930’s. Today, we serve over 1,000 youth and young adults each year across a four-state region who restore critical habitat, build trails, lead volunteers, educate youth, and respond to local and national disasters.

Duties and Responsibilities: Major duties are related to learning and working alongside personnel in the Recreational Technicians at Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve. The individual placement will assist in monitoring visitor statistics and Preventative search and rescue education.

Specific activities include:

Major Duties (80%)

• Patrols
  • Conduct regularly scheduled PSAR patrols of various park resources such as park trails, campgrounds, parking lots, roads, backcountry and/or wilderness areas, etc. in accordance with well-established procedures and precedents. While on patrol, provide visitors with information and education to ensure their safety, obtain their cooperation, and facilitate safe visitor use of park resources. Identify and report visitor/resource problems and/or violations of regulations concerning the use of protected or public land areas.
• Education
  • Provide administrative, operational, and logistic support to PSAR-related educational activities conducted by the organization in accordance with well-established practices and precedents. Develop and present formal and informal PSAR-related educational programs and/or media using well-defined prescribed outlines, guidelines, and commonly occurring educational practices, techniques, and tools delivered in-person and through educational media and technology. Conduct straightforward research on well-established PSAR-related topics (e.g., hiking safety, heat illness, sanitation, etc.) and synthesize the knowledge gained from research to develop and deliver educational PSAR experiences based on the direct Application of established policies, practices, and criteria. Educating visitors on the natural and cultural resources of Craters of the Moon.

Minor Duties (20%)

• Search and Rescue
  • Serve as a member of a Sear and Rescue (SAR) Team on events that may require trail response, ground/hasty searches, helicopter evacuations, and/or litter carries. Follow well-defined instructions and clearly established practices and precedents to support the extraction, evacuation, and stabilization of rescued visitors and/or personnel.
• Resource Monitoring
  • Monitor the activities of park visitors to check if they are in compliance with the terms and conditions of their permits and are not adversely affecting the resources or visitors of the park unit.
• Training
  • Provide informal and formal training and education to employees, partners, volunteers, individual placements, cooperating association representatives, etc. regarding well-defined PSAR-related policies, practices, processes, methods, systems, tools, etc.
• Data Collection
  • Collect and organize field data (e.g., visitation, sanitation, weather, wildlife, resource impacts) in accordance with well-defined instructions and standardized procedures. Record all data collected and utilize a variety of computer programs to compile, reduce, store, retrieve, and report data and other PSAR-related information.

Required Qualifications:

• Ability to work in the outdoors.
• Ability to work with large groups of people in a professional manner.
• Roving trails and contacting visitors.
• Ages 18-30 (up to 35 for veterans)
• U.S. Citizen or lawful, permanent resident
• Must pass a background/driver check
• Valid Driver’s License
• Must have a high school diploma or GED

Desired Qualifications:

• Existing knowledge of the area.
• Willingness to work as part of a team.
• Ability to give direction and talk to the public.
• Good verbal communication skills.
• Personal transportation.

Duty Location:

Duties are performed within Craters of the Moon National Monument and Preserve.

Terms of Employment:

One Individual placement will complete a term of service (640-680 hours), starting May 17th, 2026 through September 5th or 12th for a total of 16 or 17 Weeks. The individual placement will average 40 hours of labor per week, minus holidays. Individual placements are responsible for providing their own personal transportation and food. Housing may be provided.

Program Benefits:

Individual placement will earn $8,960 (16-week) or $9,520 (17-week) living allowance dispersed on a monthly basis throughout the 16 or 17-Week program.

The living allowance are taxable. Upon successful completion of the term Individual Placements may earn a Public Lands Corps noncompetitive hiring authority within federal service. The Public Lands Corps noncompetitive hiring authority does not provide a candidate with an entitlement to federal employment.

Application Instructions

• Application Deadline: Until Filled
• Interviews: Will occur as qualified applications are received.
• Type of position: Individual Placement
• Service Dates: May 17th, 2026 – September 5th or 12th, 2026
• Length of Term: 16 Weeks (minimum of 640 hours) or 17 weeks (minimum of 680 hours)

Additional Information

If you have questions about the position, please reach Northwest Youth Corps Internship Department at interns@nwyouthcorps.org or 208-625-8402, or Metney Jenson at metney_jensen@nps.gov or 208-527-1325.

All job offers are contingent upon the completion of a satisfactory background check (criminal history and driving history).