Youth opportunities in forest thinning

edgewood, NM, United States

Wildfire Network is a nonprofit located in Edgewood, NM that hires youth (ages 16-25) for work and education in wildfire mitigation work. Job is weather-dependent, meaning some days we don't work. When we do, it's generally 6-8 hours per day, hauling tree slash, chipping and loading or stacking logs. Educational opportunities include some basic forest monitoring principals, fire behavior instruction, forest pests and pathogens, chainsaw safety, maintenance, and operation. We currently have grant funding to perform wildfire mitigation on private property in areas of Sandia Park, Tijeras and Cedar Crest. The work is hard, but we generally have fun doing it, and the results can be enormously satisifying.