Volunteer - Wheaton Creek Ranch
Ocate, NM 87734
About the Job
Volunteer Opportunity
| Volunteer Role: various | Revision Date: December 18, 2024 |
| Reports to: Owner | Position Status: Volunteer |
| Location: Ocate, NM | Time Commitment: Minimum 2 weeks |
Who We Are
Wheaton Creek Ranch (WCR) is a family-owned working ranch that has been managed primarily for wildlife for more than thirty years. We offer our retreat facilities to the public as well as all-inclusive services for hunting for elk, deer, antelope, and bear. We care about sustainable ranching, ethical hunting, and thoughtful conservation.
Our wild, natural habitat is situated in the beautiful Sangre de Cristo Region of Northern New Mexico. The area teems with wildlife, stretching over 37,000 acres (15,000 private and 22,000 State Trust) in the Rocky Mountains.
For over four decades, WCR has been a haven for those seeking adventure, relaxation, and a genuine connection with nature. The ranch has evolved over the years into a pristine destination for hunters and nature enthusiasts alike.
Aside from the ranch's vast beauty and premier hunting program, we have facilities and cottage industries that support our community, including cattle ranching, forestry, lumber milling, lodge and room rentals, retreats, camping and more.
We are looking for volunteers who have basic skills in building and vehicle maintenance, construction/building, groundskeeping, and organization.
This is an ideal opportunity for people looking for a break from their everyday life who would like to exchange their skills and service for a remote cultural ranching experience in the breathtaking mountains of northern New Mexico.
We love to welcome kind, hardworking volunteers who are self-motivated, honest, trustworthy, and capable. An initial short-term WWOOF stay may be followed by the invitation to stay on longer term, and possibly even apply for one of the paid positions on the ranch.
We are a community of people who value remote living in the natural world. We are committed to living in harmony with each other and the abundant plant and animal life here. Our values include, but are not limited to, Humility, Sustainability, Responsibility and Community. We are seeking folks who not only share these values but are also positive, hard-working, team players.
What You’ll Do as a Volunteer
We’re excited to welcome a new volunteer into our WCR community for a constructive exchange of friendship, service, skills, and cultural learning!
As a volunteer, you will play a supporting role in various aspects of our operations. This opportunity requires, above all, a commitment to environmental stewardship and a positive can-do attitude.
Key Opportunities
In exchange for room, board, and cultural learning, as a volunteer you will commit to a minimum of 25 work hours each week (generally, 5 hours, 5 days per week). Depending on when you are with us, you may have the opportunity to contribute to the ranch in the following ways:
Carpentry/Construction:
We are looking for motivated, skilled, detail-oriented, hard-working hands to help us finish a couple renovation projects for old adobe dwellings. If you have experience with carpentry or construction, we would love to have you! You will have opportunity to employ conventional and alternative materials and methods.
Maintenance/Mechanics:
We have other projects such as mechanical maintenance of ranch vehicles, if you're mechanically inclined or have experience with maintenance on trucks, tractors and off-road vehicles, we would also love your help!
Creek and Riparian Restoration:
Transplanting cottonwoods and willows to create shade for the creek and wildlife habitat, repopulating the creek of fish that were lost during years of drought…abundant fisheries
In the spring we are planning to do creek restoration. This will require little skill; we only need strong, motivated individuals who like to get their hands dirty. You'll enjoy some "creek therapy" while you work in the serene outdoors. You’ll get to learn and experience stream and fluvial dynamics—the processes concerning the movement of water and sediment within river channels and their interaction with the surrounding environment
Groundskeeping:
Beautifying the grounds and keeping up with maintenance.
Building and Vehicle Maintenance:
Fine-tuning various maintenance projects for our structures using conventional and alternative materials and method and assisting with keeping our equipment in good running order.
Ranch Handing:
Backcountry fence building and repair, maintaining roads and trails, organizing sheds, and feeding cattle.
Who You Are
- You’re excited to live on the ranch as a positive and cooperative member of our community
- You are trustworthy and honest.
- You have excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to build positive relationships and effectively cooperate with a diverse team.
- You are self-aware, able to communicate your abilities, skills, and limitations.
- You are an effective problem-solver.
- You are sensitive to your environment, and able to take direction and implement effectively.
- You work for the greater good of our collective community, lending a helping hand around the ranch when needed.
- You’re able to meet the physical and environmental demands of the job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.
Accommodations
We offer various comfortable housing options, but most likely individuals will share housing with other volunteers.
Housing includes options of a private room and private bath or a private room with shared bath, as well as a shared commercial-sized kitchen.
We also have a few hook-ups, if you bring your own live-in camper.
For warmer months and for those who wish to, we also have primitive camping available.
All meals are self-catered, with each volunteer given an allowance for groceries each week.
Living on the Ranch
With access to 37,000 acres of wilderness, we see living at the ranch as a privilege. As part of our team, you’ll get:
- Quality housing and utilities, including high-speed internet
- Access to the wilderness for personal recreation, including mountain biking, hiking, camping, etc.
- Possible hunting opportunities, with permission from the owner
Requirements
- Each volunteer must hold accident insurance. This policy is recommended by WWOOF. Please be prepared to offer proof of accident insurance before arrival.
- Valid driver’s license. Please be prepared to offer us a copy for identity verification before arrival.
- Background check. Please prepared to cooperate with our third-party screening process. Once your visit with us is confirmed, they will contact you via email.
Please note that we operate as a drug free/smoke free workplace. Smoking is not allowed on the job and we ask that “off the job” smoking or vaping be done discreetly, never in front of guests/clients and not in ranch buildings or vehicles. While we have vehicles for ranch staff and volunteers, you must have your own personal vehicle to travel from the ranch to the local town for personal needs.
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Source : Wheaton Creek Ranch