Job opening: Park Ranger (Interpretation)
Salary: $21 - 28 per hour
Published at: Oct 25 2024
Employment Type: Full-time
These positions are temporary seasonals not to exceed 1039 hours work in a service year.
This is an open continuous announcement with an established initial cut-off date of December 6, 2024. Please see Next Steps for additional information.
Duties
As a Park Ranger (Interpretation), your duties may include:
Presenting formal and informal talks (maps, visitor center displays, roving contacts)
Film introductions
Operating theater and audiovisual equipment
Performing tasks associated with front-line Visitor and Information Centers
Interacting with the public and answering a variety of questions
Providing visitor information and trip planning for Alaska's National Parks
Leading interpretive guided walks or hikes
Mentoring and leading other seasonal staff
Performing routine site safety inspections and reporting problems
Maintaining inventory and stocking of printed materials
Positions in Anchorage, Denali Park, and Fairbanks may sell Park Passes and collect and account for money. Positions with fee collection and/or government money handling duties require a higher background check than the non-fee positions.
Positions in King Salmon and Brooks Camp (Lake and Peninsula County) have positions with and without fee collections duties. Some positions may sell Park Passes and collect and account for money. Positions with fee collection and/or government money handling duties require a higher background check than the non-fee positions.
Vacancies are available in:
Anchorage: Anchorage Alaska Public Lands Information Center
Brooks Camp (Lake and Peninsula County): Katmai National Park and Preserve
Copper Center: Wrangell - St. Elias National Park and Preserve
Denali Park: Denali National Park and Preserve
Fairbanks: Fairbanks Alaska Public Lands Information Center
King Salmon: Katmai National Park and Preserve
Seward: Kenai Fjords National Park
Skagway: Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park
Anticipated season beginning and ending dates:
Anchorage: May through September
Brooks Camp (Lake and Peninsula County): May through September
Copper Center: May through September
Denali Park: April through September
Fairbanks: April through September
King Salmon: May through September
Seward: May through September
Skagway: April through October
Government housing:
Will be available in Brooks Camp (Lake and Peninsula County), King Salmon, and Skagway.
May be available in Copper Center, Denali Park, and Seward.
Is not available in Anchorage or Fairbanks.
An additional cost of living allowance will be added to the pay for these duty stations:
1.69% for Anchorage and Fairbanks
3.21% for Brooks Camp (Lake and Peninsula County), Copper Center, Denali Park, King Salmon, Seward, and Skagway.
Pay is subject to review and adjustment.
Selectees may be moved between duty stations within park boundaries.
Please apply under Lake and Peninsula County for vacancies at Katmai National Park and Preserve's Brooks Camp.
The employees of the National Park Service care for special places that are the heritage of all Americans. Since its inception in 1916, the National Park Service has been dedicated to the preservation and management of this country's outstanding natural, historical, and recreational resources. Park ranger - interpreters connect people to parks. They play a key role in ensuring that visitors have a meaningful, satisfying, and safe park experience, help visitors decide how to spend their time in the park, and inform them about the wonders that await their discovery. Park ranger - interpreters are specially trained to engage the public so that each park visitor can find a personal connection with the meanings and values found in the places and stories of that park. They help visitors explore the many dimensions of parks by introducing them to a variety of perspectives. By providing the opportunity for visitors to care about the places they visit, they promote stewardship and the opportunity for those visitors to care for park resources. National parks are among the most remarkable places in America for recreation, learning, and inspiration. The work done by park ranger-interpreters through effective interpretive and educational programs encourages the development of a personal stewardship ethic and broadens public support for preserving and protecting park resources, so that they may be enjoyed by present and future generations.
Qualifications
All qualifications must be met by the closing date of this announcement-02/28/2025-unless otherwise stated in this vacancy announcement.
Credit will be given for all appropriate qualifying experience. For current Federal employees, if hours worked per week are not included on your resume, you must submit a non-award SF-50 for each federal position listed as part of your application to be used to validate your work schedule and determine the amount of qualifying experience that you will be granted. An award SF-50 will not be acceptable documentation for which to consider your amount of qualifying experience. For all other applicants who are not current federal employees, your resume must state either "full-time" (or "40 hours a week") or "part-time" with the number of hours worked per week to ensure proper crediting of specialized experience. Failure to adequately provide information needed to determine number of hours worked in each position may result in that time not being credited when evaluating qualifying experience.
For periods of time that reflect military service, the DD-214 or Statement of Service is sufficient to meet the full and/or part-time hours requirement as the service dates will be reflected.
To qualify for this position at the GS-05 grade level, you must possess at least one of the following minimum qualifications by close of the announcement:
EXPERIENCE: At least one full year of specialized experience comparable in scope and responsibility to the GS-4 grade level in the Federal service (obtained in either the public or private sectors). Specialized experience is experience that equipped the applicant with the particular knowledge, skills, abilities, and competencies needed to successfully perform the duties of this position. Experience may have been in technical, administrative, or scientific work, fish and wildlife management, recreation management, law enforcement, or other park related work. Examples of specialized experience include, but are not limited to, Park Guide or tour leader; environmental educator or teacher; law enforcement or investigative work; archeological or historical preservation research work; forestry and/or fire management work in a park, recreation, or conservation area; management, assistant, or program specialist work involving the development and implementation of policy related to protection, conservation, or management of park areas or similar operations; or other similar work. To be creditable, this experience must have been equivalent in level of difficulty and responsibility to that of at least the GS-4 grade level in the federal service. You must include hours per week worked.
-OR-
EDUCATION: Successful completion of at least four years of education above high school leading to a bachelor's degree with major study or 24 semester hours of course work in a related field. Related fields of study include natural resource management, natural sciences, earth sciences, history, archaeology, anthropology, park and recreation management, law enforcement/police science, social sciences, museum sciences, business administration, public administration, behavioral sciences, sociology, or other closely related subjects pertinent to the management and protection of natural and cultural resources. You must include transcripts.
-OR-
Successful completion of a combination of education and experience as described above. To combine education and experience, first take the number of semester hours (or equivalent), in excess of the first 60 semester hours earned towards your degree, and divide by 60 semester hours (or equivalent). Then take the number of months of full time experience and divide by 12 months. Add the two percentages. The total must equal at least 100 percent in order to meet this description. You must include transcripts and you must also include hours worked per week.
When describing the nature of your duties (e.g., your paid or unpaid work or volunteer experience), please be extremely clear, thorough, and specific. We will not make assumptions regarding your experience. Make sure your resume includes detailed information to support your qualifications and answers to the job questionnaire. For additional information on what to include in your resume, click here. For information on what you should leave out of your resume, click here. The following five-minute video may also be helpful for creating and updating your federal resume: click here.
Volunteer Experience: Experience refers to paid and unpaid experience, including volunteer work done through National Service programs (e.g., Peace Corps, AmeriCorps) and other organizations (e.g., professional; philanthropic; religious; spiritual; community, student, social). Volunteer work helps build critical competencies, knowledge, and skills and can provide valuable training and experience that translates directly to paid employment. You will receive credit for all qualifying experience, including volunteer experience.
Education
To qualify based on education, you must submit a legible copy of transcripts from an
accredited institution with your name, school name, credit hours, course level, major(s), and grade-point average or class ranking. Transcripts do not need to be official, but if you are selected for this position and you used your education to qualify, you must provide official transcripts before you begin work.
If you are using
education completed in foreign colleges or universities to meet qualification requirements, you must show that your education credentials have been evaluated by a private organization that specializes in interpretation of foreign education programs and such education has been deemed equivalent to that gained in an accredited U.S. education program; or full credit has been given for the courses at a U.S. accredited college or university.
Contacts
- Address Alaska Regional Office
240 W 5th Avenue
Anchorage, AK 99501
US
- Name: Carrie Shapbell
- Phone: (907) 644-3340
- Email: [email protected]