Fern Ridge Lake Volunteer Host

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The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), Willamette Valley Project is looking for a highly motivated, energetic couple or 2-person team to help maintain our recreation areas around Fern Ridge Lake near Eugene, Oregon. If you like working in the outdoors, maintaining recreation areas and grounds keeping, this could be a great opportunity for you.

Duties:

The Fern Ridge Lake Hosts will be responsible for opening and closing several day-use park gates and vault toilets (no toilet cleaning!) around the lake at sunrise and sunset along with the project office entrance gate, five days a week. Hosts will need to conduct sweeps throughout the parks before closing.

Hosts will act as the "eyes and ears" for the Park Rangers in the parks by observing visitor activities and noting anything suspicious. Hosts will not and should not approach any violations in progress, and instead report issues to Park Rangers. The Fern Ridge office houses our wildlife and botany teams. There may be opportunities to work in the greenhouse and help conduct plant and wildlife surveys in the spring. Additionally, hosts may also perform minor maintenance as needed to include, but not limited to, installing, and removing signs, painting, vegetation management, and picking up litter.

Time Commitment & Hours:

Position starts in March/April 2025 and goes through September 2025. This position requires working a minimum of 30 hours/week spread out over five days with Friday, Saturday and Sunday being required. You may request which two days off during Mon-Thurs that you prefer.

Amenities:

In exchange for volunteering 30 hours of work per week, we offer a full hook-up site (water, sewer, and electric service) for an RV or trailer at our project office at Fern Ridge Lake. Volunteers must provide their own RV/Trailer and street legal transportation. You will be reimbursed mileage while conducting official duties around the lake. WI-FI/internet is not provided but may be purchased through local companies. There is dependable cellular phone coverage at the project office and around the lake.

Please note: The Fern Ridge Host site is situated next to offices behind a gate which is locked at night and weekends. Due to the setting, keeping a clean and professional site and appearance is of the utmost importance.

About Fern Ridge:

Fern Ridge Lake is a popular recreation area for fishing, sailing, boating and water skiing, and is located 12 miles from downtown Eugene. Fern Ridge Dam was the first Willamette Valley dam constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Its authorized purposes are flood risk management, water quality improvement, irrigation, fish and wildlife habitat and recreation. The reservoir provides 110,000 acre-feet of usable flood control storage and controls runoff from a 275 square-mile drainage area. The area includes extensive wetlands and provides unique habitat for a variety of wildlife and wintering waterfowl populations. Six parks and several remote access points around the lake offer a variety of day use recreation opportunities such as picnicking, swimming, fishing, hunting, and wildlife viewing. A private concession on the peninsula at the south end of the lake has overnight camping sites.

Start Date - 2025-03-15

End Date - 2025-10-19