L-A-D Foundation - Land Stewardship in the Missouri Ozark Highlands Since 1962
L-A-D Foundation - Land Stewardship in the Missouri Ozark Highlands Since 1962
Employment and Volunteer Opportunities at L-A-D Foundation
Forester
Located within 30 miles of Salem, MO, this position will work as part of the Pioneer Forest team, collaborating on all aspects of delivering excellence in forest management. Foresters are responsible for administering timber sales and helping to monitor programs, records, and activities on or relating to the Forest. This position reports to the Chief Forester.
Pioneer Forest is interested in researching symbiotic management techniques that may further our desired outcomes for a naturally regenerative uneven-aged forest in the Missouri Ozarks. The ideal candidate has an inquisitive nature, with an interest in continuing to learn and understand the changing forest. Pioneer is a predominantly mixed hardwood forest, with a large component of oak and shortleaf pine.
Seasonal Stewardship Crew
Stewardship Crew, Fall, 2021
(Land Stewardship Coordinator Neal Humke at left)
Each fall and winter, the L-A-D Foundation hires a seasonal stewardship crew to assist with ongoing shortleaf pine and glade restoration efforts. Stewardship crews prepare for and conduct prescribed burns in a variety of landscapes. In addition to preparing firelines and participating in wildland fire operations, crew members may also assist with other conservation activities, such as clearing brush, constructing or repairing signs, marking boundary lines, maintaining trails, conducting mapping of forest areas, and treating invasive species.
Crew members have the opportunity to learn about local flora and native wildlife, Pioneer Forest's method of forest management, and the fire ecology of the Ozarks. They also gain field experience in wildland fire operations and natural resource management.
Internships
Former Intern Dustin Smith
Pioneer Forest hosts an internship for college students or recent graduates looking to enter the field of forestry. Designed to provide beyond-the-classroom experience, interns follow day-to-day operations and management of a working forest. Interns work closely with the Pioneer Forest Manager, Chief Forester, and Forest Technicians, and learn the application of uneven-aged single tree selection method of timber harvest, basic tree inventory skills, basic map reading and orienteering skills, and basic timber sale administration.
Applicants must be enrolled in a college or university with a specified degree program in forestry or a closely related field, or be a recent college graduate. Basic knowledge of forest inventory and mensuration, dendrology or plant taxonomy, silviculture, and forest management are required.
Internships are full-time, paid positions. Transportation for work purposes is provided. Some assistance for housing or temporary relocation may be available.
Volunteer Opportunities
Volunteers at the Virgin Pine Area
Prescribed Fire Volunteer Crewmembers
The L-A-D Foundation seeks volunteers to assist with individual prescribed burns on Pioneer Forest. Volunteers help with the day's wildland fire operations, including line construction, ignition, mop-up, suppression, and monitoring.
Volunteers must be trained in wildland firefighting and pass an annual physical fitness test, both of which we can offer. All tools and personal protective equipment are provided. Primary work location is northern Shannon County, MO, and the fire season is November – March. We have had people assist us for a single day on an on-call basis or arrange to stay for a week or more at a time.
Volunteers have the opportunity to gain field experience in wildland fire operations, learn about fire ecology, connect with professional staff from many agencies, and help further our ecological management goals.
For more information, or to volunteer, please contact Land Stewardship Coordinator Neal Humke at neal.humke@ladfoundation.org.
Other Volunteer Opportunities
The L-A-D Foundation has other opportunities to volunteer at our office in St. Louis or on our lands throughout Missouri. Past opportunities include sinkhole cleanup days in Perry County, trail maintenance and construction in the Roger Pryor Pioneer Backcountry, and biological monitoring such as conducting plant, insect, or bird inventories.
For more information on upcoming volunteer opportunities, please email us at info@ladfoundation.org.
Volunteers from Grand Center Arts Academy High School in St. Louis help clean up sinkholes in Perry County, 2016.
Volunteers from the Middle Mississippi Valley Grotto remove trash from a sinkhole in Perry county, 2015. PHOTO BY: Denise Vaughn
Volunteers work on the Ozark Trail through the Roger Pryor Pioneer Backcountry
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