Position Title: Idarado Mine Cleanup Community Outreach – VISTA Summer Associate

Conservation Legacy Program: Stewards Individual Placement

Site Location:

Western Alliance for Reclamation Management and Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership

1 Western Way, Gunnison, CO 81201

Terms of Service:

• Start Date: 6/1/2026
• End Date: 8/9/2026
• AmeriCorps Slot Classification: 300 hours (Minimum-Time)

Purpose:

• Ouray County is a small rural mountain community with a population of approximately 5, 000 residents. While the county’s median household income is around $78, 000, the local economy relies heavily on tourism, recreation, and seasonal service-sector employment. As a result, many residents experience income variability, underemployment during off-season months, and increasing cost-of-living pressures, particularly related to housing. Approximately 8–10% of residents live below the federal poverty line, and many others face economic instability due to the seasonal nature of local employment.
• Environmental restoration and watershed management represent growing economic sectors in the region, particularly as communities across the West work to address the legacy impacts of historic mining. These sectors require trained professionals with expertise in environmental science, watershed restoration, and mine reclamation. However, access to the education and professional experience required to enter these careers can be financially challenging for many students.
• This AmeriCorps Summer Associate project helps address this barrier by providing a paid assistantship opportunity for a graduate student who might not otherwise be able to participate in professional training related to mine reclamation and watershed restoration. Through the stipend provided by AmeriCorps, the Summer Associate is able to gain professional experience working with nonprofit organizations and watershed practitioners while developing skills in environmental research, science communication, and community engagement.
• For graduate students pursuing degrees in environmental management or related fields, opportunities to gain hands-on experience in mine remediation and watershed restoration are often limited and may require unpaid internships or volunteer work that many students cannot afford to pursue. By providing a structured service position with financial support, this AmeriCorps project expands access to professional development opportunities for students who may otherwise face financial barriers to entering the environmental restoration field.
• In addition to benefiting the Summer Associate directly, the project supports the broader workforce development mission of the Western Alliance for Reclamation Management (WARM), which works to prepare the next generation of professionals needed to address legacy mining impacts across the western United States. By helping a graduate student gain practical experience in watershed restoration and community education, the project contributes to building a skilled workforce capable of supporting long-term environmental and economic resilience in rural mountain communities like Ouray County.
• This project will build capacity at the Western Alliance for Reclamation Management (WARM) and Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership (UWP) by developing new educational resources, strengthening partnerships with regional watershed organizations, and expanding the organization’s ability to communicate complex mine remediation issues to the public. WARM is a small nonprofit organization with limited staff capacity that focuses on preparing the next generation of professionals for careers in mine reclamation and environmental restoration. The Summer Associate will help expand the organization’s outreach and educational programming by researching the history and environmental context of the Idarado Mine remediation and developing accessible materials that explain watershed restoration efforts in the Upper Uncompahgre River watershed. Through this project, the Summer Associate will create educational fact sheets, summaries, and supporting research materials that WARM and its partners can use for community outreach, student learning opportunities, and future programming related to mine reclamation. These materials will allow the organization to more effectively communicate the environmental challenges and restoration work occurring in historic mining districts in southwestern Colorado. The project will also strengthen collaboration between WARM and the Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership by organizing research and information that supports shared outreach and education goals. These partnerships are essential to WARM’s mission of connecting students, professionals, and communities working to address legacy mining impacts. In addition, the project will help establish a model for future student assistantships and AmeriCorps service positions that support WARM’s educational and workforce development initiatives. By creating resources and processes that can be used in future programming, the Summer Associate will help build long-term organizational capacity for WARM to support watershed education, mine reclamation training, and community engagement around environmental restoration.
• The Stewards Summer Associate will support a collaborative project between the Western Alliance for Reclamation Management (WARM) and the Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership focused on improving public understanding of the Idarado Mine remediation in Colorado’s historic Red Mountain Mining District, increasing community understanding of watershed restoration and mine remediation by translating technical information about the Idarado Mine cleanup into accessible educational resources.

Description of Duties:

The Summer Associate will focus on capacity-building activities that produce internal planning resources, documentation tools, and community engagement materials. Duties may include compiling labor market research summaries, developing workforce resource inventories, creating community asset maps, organizing environmental data sets, drafting partnership coordination frameworks, designing planning templates and resource guides, and assisting with public-facing informational workshops, outreach campaigns, or site observations. Activities are designed to strengthen host organizations’ capacity, guide long-term workforce and environmental program development, provide tangible connections between planning tools and community needs, and support measurable outcomes in workforce access, environmental stewardship, and community engagement.

The VISTA member will support a collaboration between the Western Alliance for Reclamation Management (WARM) and the Uncompahgre Watershed Partnership focused on communicating the Idarado Mine cleanup in Colorado’s historic Red Mountain Mining District. The member will research the history and science of the remediation project and help translate complex environmental and regulatory information into accessible community resources. Duties may include background research, writing fact sheets and outreach materials, supporting watershed mapping or data organization, and assisting with community education efforts. The position offers hands-on experience in watershed restoration, environmental communication, and nonprofit program development, with opportunities to collaborate with watershed professionals and visit historic mining landscapes in the San Juan Mountains. Ideal candidates are strong writers, curious researchers, and interested in environmental restoration and public lands.

Qualifications:

• Car recommended;
• Desired education level: College Graduate
• Language requirement: English
• United States citizen, United States national, or a lawful permanent resident alien
• At least 17 years of age
• Has received a high school diploma or equivalency certificate; or has not dropped out of elementary or secondary school to enroll as an AmeriCorps participant, and agrees to obtain a high school diploma or its equivalent prior to using the education award
• Agrees to provide information to establish eligibility and to complete a National Service Criminal History Check.

Physical Requirements:

Conservation Legacy is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals and will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to perform essential functions. Some positions may require periodic overnight travel, non-traditional hours, ability to move across varied terrain, use program-specific tools and a range of technology on an infrequent or frequent basis. Exerting up to 25 pounds of force occasionally to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects. Ability to safely drive an organizational vehicle may also be required for some positions. If you need assistance and/or a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager.

Time Requirements:

• Typically, this position is expected to serve full-time, 35-40 hours per week, but exact service schedules may vary. A half hour lunch break will not be counted towards AmeriCorps service
• Permits attendance at school during off hours;
• Permits working at another job during off hours

Orientation and Training:

• Member will receive an orientation that includes training on AmeriCorps prohibited and unallowable activities.
• Member will receive a Virtual Member Orientation (VMO) from VISTA on their first day of service.

Benefits:

• Segal AmeriCorps Education Award of $1, 565.08
• Living Allowance of $957.46 (taxable) every other week.
• Healthcare Coverage if Eligible
• Childcare Coverage if Eligible
• Loan forbearance if Eligible
• Interest Payments if Eligible
• Recreational Opportunities
• Professional Development Opportunities

Evaluation and Reporting:

As an AmeriCorps VISTA Summer Associate, performance will be evaluated on whether the Summer Associate has completed the required number of hours, whether the Summer Associate has satisfactorily completed assignments, and if the Summer Associate has met other performance criteria that were clearly communicated at the beginning of the term of service.

Reporting requirements include, but are not limited to, bi-weekly timesheets and accomplishment tracking.

Supervisor Name and Contact Information:

Erin Adams

eadams@conservationlegacy.org

330 Harper Park Drive

Beckley, WV 25801

(304) 860-0578

Host Organization Contact:

Dominique Naccarato
dnaccarato@western.edu
304-926-0499 (43887) or 304-389-8716 (cell)

Conservation Legacy is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or reasonable accommodations due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager.