Traditional Trades Advancement Program Landscape Stewardship Corps – HAMPTON NATIONAL HISTORIC SITE

PROGRAM OVERVIEW:

American jobshiringnearme.org Experience, a nonprofit dedicated to providing rewarding environmental service opportunities, seeks young adults interested in exploring the Traditional Trades in partnership with the National Park Service. Learn and advance your horticulture and landscape management skills to become the next leaders in managing historic landscapes in our National Parks! For more information the American jobshiringnearme.org Experience please visit:  www.usaconservation.org

The Traditional Trades Advancement Program-Landscape Stewardship Corps intern will work alongside a talented team at Hampton National Historic Site to care for historic landscapes in Brookline, MA, learning about plant and cultural landscape management. No background or experience is necessary. A 26-week commitment is required.

By assisting with cultural landscape preservation projects, participants directly improve the physical conditions of nationally significant park landscapes enjoyed by thousands of visitors each year. Participants gain practical, hands-on experience and the foundation for a career in historic cultural landscape preservation. Learning the fundamentals of landscape preservation and receiving on-the-job training in one or more traditional landscape trades such as horticulture, arboriculture, urban forestry, and more. The program is committed to providing all aspiring preservationists—especially those underrepresented in these fields—with a unique opportunity to work on important real-world projects while building professional experience in America’s national parks.

For more information about the National Park Service’s Traditional Trades Advancement Program (TTAP) – Landscape Stewardship Corps please visit: Landscape Stewardship Corps – Historic Preservation Training Center (U.S. National Park Service)

LOCATION: The landscape of Hampton National Historic Site includes a grand Georgian house surrounded by formal terraced gardens, state champion trees, rolling meadows and woodland, as well as the original farm, with historic main house, barns, dairy, farm structures and the houses for enslaved people and servants.  All reflect the evolution of American social, economic, and cultural history from 1745 to 1948.  Hampton National Historic Site is in a quiet residential neighborhood in Townson, Maryland, about nine miles from Baltimore.   

The ACE members will also work occasionally (about 33%, but subject to change) at Fort McHenry National Monument and Historic Shrine in Baltimore, Maryland.  Birthplace to our National Anthem, Fort McHenry is a peninsula of rolling turf and trees surrounding the historic star-shaped fort that once protected the Baltimore Harbor from British invasion.

For more information about Hampton National Historic Site, visit the NPS website.

POSITION OVERVIEW: The ACE members will experience the full range of behind-the-scenes preservation and maintenance activities required in managing a nationally significant historic landscape and will receive training and mentoring from experienced park staff. The position may also require the member to work independently on some projects and assignments.  

• 40 hours a week, Monday – Thursday, 6:00AM-4:30PM (schedule will adjust throughout the term to account for seasonal changes).
• General tree care
• Turf management 
• Invasive species management
• Planting, mulching, mowing, weeding, pruning, applying fertilization practices
• Other tasks as needed

BENEFITS:

• A weekly stipend of $720, dispersed bi-weekly.
• $1,000 in professional development funds for training, networking, and/or conferences.
• Professional mentorship learning about turf management, arboriculture, and historic preservation.
• Hands-on experience in maintaining sustainable landscapes, including plant care and identification, tree pruning, and much more.
• All expenses paid trip to a week-long professional development event with other Landscape Stewardship Corps interns from NPS sites across the country.
• Career readiness and professional networking opportunities.
• Public Land Corps Hiring Authority certification that can help secure a permanent federal job within the Department of the Interior. Learn more about the Public Land Corps Hiring Authority.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS: TTAP-Landscape Stewardship Corps requires candidates to:

• Learn and work as part of a team in positive and productive ways
• Strictly adhere to NPS and ACE equipment training, certification, and safety protocols 
• Have a strong interest in history, horticulture and/or the environment and working outdoors.
• Participate in NPS’s Landscape Stewardship Corps’ week-long in-person training.
• Be a U.S. citizen or lawful permanent resident 
• Be 18-30 years old at time of service (veterans up to 35 years old)
• Have a High School Diploma/GED
• Pass fingerprint-based FBI, state criminal, and a national sex offender check
• Be able to provide proof of a driver’s license and complete an MVR check
• Local candidates are encouraged to apply, but being local is not required
• To learn more about eligibility requirements, please visit our website https://www.usaconservation.org/epic/#eligibility-requirements.

WORK ENVIRONMENT: Caring for historic cultural landscapes in National Parks will require working outdoors for extended periods of time in possibly rough terrain, or in periods of heat or cold.  Insects may bite and wildlife is not always predictable.  Certain landscape tools require manual dexterity, and interns should be able to lift to 50 pounds.  National Parks are public spaces and positive visitor interaction is expected.