VISTA: Palmetto Conservation Foundation & Enoree Ranger District

Stewards Individual Placements (SIP) provides individuals with service and career opportunities to strengthen communities and preserve our natural resources. Participants work with federal agencies, tribal governments, and nonprofits building institutional capacity, developing community relationships, and supporting ecosystem health.

 

SIP in partnership with the Palmetto Conservation Foundation is hiring an intern to increase volunteer participation and to increase community outreach. The PCF/Palmetto Trail and the US Forest Service Enoree District propose to share in the funding and management of a VISTA volunteer coordinator. The individual will be headquartered in the Palmetto Trail office in Columbia, SC but will spend time at the Enoree Ranger Station as well as at sites throughout the 500-mile-long Palmetto Trail. Both sites are generally in rural, economically disadvantaged areas. We seek to alleviate poverty three ways: workforce development opportunities for Public Land Corps Crews; volunteer activities; and promotion of local areas in conjunction with promotion of the recreational assets we represent. The Forest Service seeks to engage more service crews and interns on the Enoree Ranger District. These partnerships allow the participant to receive either a Public Land Corp or Resource Assistant Federal Hiring Authority. Additionally, our volunteers will receive training and skill development with both the Forest Service and The Palmetto Conservation Foundation. The VISTA member will have a DEI focus to engage underrepresented populations and enhance job skills locally, as well as an outreach focus to encourage volunteer efforts by groups located elsewhere, who may be less familiar with the sites. We will then encourage volunteers to return, attracting more people to these extraordinary recreational assets and bringing tourist dollars to local small businesses. In addition, we will work with local communities near the Forest and along the path of the Palmetto Trail to draw attention to all these areas have to offer. These communities benefit from tourism that the trails and activities on the forest offer. Finally, the VISTA will develop plans and seek funding to ensure sustainability of the program. The PCF and the US Forest Service lack the capacity for a Volunteer and Service Coordinator. The added capacity of the VISTA will benefit both organizations’ ability to better engage service participants and volunteers.

 

Member Duties : Increase volunteer participation by evaluating and revising existing volunteer plans, protocols and manuals and developing spreadsheets to coordinate activities •Increase community outreach, leading to economic development by bringing new groups to target sites, arranging activities to highlight local governments, and seeking new community organizations interested in interacting with outdoor recreational sites. •Alleviate poverty by developing processes for volunteers to develop job skills, and by identifying potential jobs within the sponsoring organizations •Increase local tourism revenues by drawing attention to communities near Palmetto Trail and National Forest sites