member services representative

crew member

crew leader

forester

interpreter

American Conservation Experience

Let's start with some essential info: Note that I am reviewing the Southeast (Asheville) corps specifically, which has its own peculiarities apart from other ACE chapters. 

- Pay is $140 a week, paid biweekly; comes out to around $3.50/hr, but overtime is common and unpaid, so it's closer to $2.80.
- They don't drug test, but drugs and alcohol are forbidden throughout the duration of the program. You'll figure it out. 
- Program completion comes with a modest education grant of $1,000-2,000.
- Joining the program will put a freeze on your federal student loans for the duration of your stay.
- Completion of a program gives you priority access to ACE EPIC internships which can actually be extremely lucrative. Start with ACE EPIC if you are interested in the scientific/research side of conservation.
- Unlike most Americorps jobs, ACE DOES NOT give you special hiring priority with Government jobs.
- You're assigned to projects (hitches) randomly. These vary greatly from hitch to hitch, but some kind of housing is provided most of the time, camping hitches are common but not frequent, and they will always be in an established campground. 
- The crew generally reports to a Crew Leader, who in turn answers to the project sponsors/local staff. The extent of this hierarchy will vary immensely from hitch to hitch. 
- The labor is unskilled and not especially difficult, so don't worry about tiring out or being too weak. If you have a manual labor or trail maintenance background you will not be learning anything new. 
- You generally change crews completely after each hitch, sometimes a crew will stay together for two hitches but it's uncommon. The office will tell you that crews are being kept together due to COVID, but I have never heard of that actually being practiced. 
- The current Southeast Chapter projects are spread throughout Kentucky, Virginia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. There are also multiple projects in Kansas which are extremely removed and very different from the regular Southeast projects.
- You CAN bring your laptop/other small luxuries with you and I would definitely recommend it. 

I liked my time in ACE Southeast. It's about what you would expect. Close living, unskilled manual labor, and a lot of confused, wayward kids looking for something to do with life. Most of the crew mates are great; never had a problem child and never really heard of any. Most of the crew members aren't actually from a conservation background, but everyone's got an interest in it. There is no real educational component in the program. Outside of some exposure to the parks/forest/fish and wildlife services, there is not a lot of merit in the program for someone pursuing a career in Environmental Sciences or Forestry. Hitches are usually about a month, sometimes two weeks if you're closer to Asheville. Some hitches can run up to two months or more.

The pay is bad. Really bad. Less than half of minimum wage with no overtime. and you WILL be working overtime. Fortunately you're out on project most of the time so it's easy to save your paychecks up. Your actual working experience will change a lot depending on your location and your crew leader. Crew Leaders are generally pleasant but some of them are very strict or otherwise just weird people. They are not necessarily any older or more qualified than the crew members, so they can either be great friends or great obstacles. Never mean people in my experience, but really weird sometimes.

The organization of the ACE Southeast office is terrible, but they aren't bad people, in fact they're mostly very friendly if you get to meet them. I have no idea what's going on up there but employee turnover is unreasonably high and it's very difficult to get any cooperation out of the office. Really the organization of the whole program is duct-taped together. From what I've heard this is not the case with older, more established ACE chapters.

The Asheville housing "Caribou House" is charming as a trap house but it is in unbelievably poor condition. Living in a tent really isn't so bad by comparison.  

To stop my rambling: ACE Southeast is a good way to hit the pause button on your life or get out of an old routine, especially good if you're trying to straighten up. They WILL hire you unless you're a total psychopath so it's just a matter of dedicating yourself to it. You'll make more in a week at McDonalds than you will in a month of ACE, so if money and civilization are important to you this may not be the place. You'll get to meet a diverse bunch of hipsters and drifters in their early 20's and live on a regimented all-day schedule, which is honestly worth more than the paycheck. 

Honestly, your happiness here depends a lot on who you are. Do you like independence? Great, don't come here. You will never get a second alone - in your work OR off time. I worked at 2 locations and this seemed to be a prevailing theme. I joined because I love learning new things. Most of my time was at the Central location, and I learned like 2 skills there, total. My crew leaders there were okay... but I was unimpressed when the going got tough. We were exposed to a wildfire on project and it took 3 days for them to make the call for us to leave (despite unsafe conditions and the fact every person was sick at least once that week). Soon after, my crew learned that our homes/all our belongings burned to the ground. We were displaced for about a month and a half - which isn't ACE's fault. But they were very unprepared and news about our whereabouts changed almost every day. Also, the day the evacuation order lifted, they told us we could continue to stay in the temporary housing they finally secured (after many weeks). But, the very next day, they changed their minds with no explanation. Many ACERS come from across the country, so honestly that's horrible. Also, while we were displaced, crew leaders were a bit cranky about doing any work (ie. giving stranded crew members rides in the company vehicle for groceries, shopping to replace necessities, or leisure). One of the crew leaders seemed intent on controlling members, rather than leading them. Additionally, there was a fundraiser for the crew (each member lost everything) and the crew leaders were included - they soon learned that their dwellings were the only ones unaffected, but they kept an equal share of the money awarded to the crew. I probably am being a little petty right now in posting this review, but truly I hope I can help somebody that's considering this option.

The management is awful. Picked favorites. Made sexists and racist comments. One voluntee was feeling threatened  because of her race told mmanagement and nothing was done. How sad... A project leader urinated infront of people, made fun of someone with mental health issue, slapped someone on the back while being chainsaw trained, oh he was operating the chainsaw too, and he openly talked about how he hated the program. He ended up having the option to quit. Great, right?! I was personality verbally attack by two different crew leader. The crew leaders are dumpster people. Found it a common trend that they had no idea what we were doing and could not explain the work. They pick people that were once a crew member which is cool to see someone advance in an organization but there are no boundaries! Overall met amazing people all across the country which is awesome but if your ready to dive into a dumpster fire, chaos, and mental health issues sign up for ACE you well not be treated with respect. Oh this is supposed to be a non profit conservation experience but ace runs too much like a business to be successful.

What is the best part of working at the company?
You gain valuable skills for working in the conservation field while working as a team to achieve the same goal. You also get to work in the great outdoors and make life long friends while working in various National forests and parks. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Sometimes the living situation is not ideal due to different weather conditions and being housed with multiple people. But every little bit of the experience is worth it. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Very welcoming! Everyone I met in ACE was very welcoming and helpful to all individuals.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Getting up to have breakfast and be ready to head out for project at 7:00am. Have a stretch/ safety circle and get to work. You get at least three breaks throughout the work day to get water and a snack. At 5:00pm it's time to pack up and head back to camp.

I was sexually harassed by my crew leader. He was a 30 year old loser creep, that hit on all his young crew members and engaged in dangerous behavior in the back country. even after talking to the CEO of the company they did little to nothing about the situation. The crew leader got to keep his job and got no punishment.  Because of how uncomfortable I was still having to live around my harasser and still getting no support from anyone, I left early and no one helped me receive my education award even after accomplishing required hours. 
They advertise how much they do for you but without the volunteer the company is nothing. You spend more money going there then what you get back. Everyone should be getting a stipend even if you only volunteer three months. You'll be wanting that stipend when you are putting in hard manual labor for these people. Be careful, this company takes advantage of the volunteers.

What is the best part of working at the company?
The staff at ACE are great to work with. The organization has a great culture and supervisors are understanding. Everyone is willing to help each other out and the projects ACE is involved in are really rewarding. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
There are some days that require flexibility when plans change due to factors outside of our control like extreme weather and contract approvals. 

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
ACE has a great work environment and culture. I've found staff and supervisors to be very understanding and inclusive. Everyone is looking to help each other no matter what position they are in. It is a very team-oriented and collaborative environment.

I worked in the Central California ACE location. Although the pay is low, you get some great benefits with education stipends, free housing, and free meals for half of the month. They did a really good job working around my dietary restrictions and camping for work was well organized. My favorite part about working for ACE was the people. The crew leaders were all amazing and my coworkers were inclusive, friendly, passionate, and unique. If you're looking for a place to learn some outdoor living skills, live with a community of like-minded individuals, and are passionate about having unreal experiences, this is the job for you!!!

I was an ACE EPIC intern who also worked with ACE crews. I found the pay great, living with so many people was challenging for me, they did not receive the best support in equipment and management that they could have. I also felt management was lacking on the EPIC end as well. The crews I worked with were out of the SE branch, maybe some other branches have a better system working for them. I think this is a great corps for people in their younger 20's to start with and gain multiple resume building experiences. I do think the crew members and crew leaders could use some mental health days. 

The work here is very physically demanding, you will be beat after working 80 hours in 8 days. The 6 off days fly by. Free housing and food on work days, easy to apply for food stamps. Stipend/salray feels subpar given the physicality of the work. Don't do this work if you're sensitive to poison oak! - it's all over California. People are fun but you're around them 24/7, can be nice to take alone time. 

Too much and too little pay. I was expected to work 50-60 hour workweeks and wear so many different hats. Questionable safety and compliance. You get to go to cool places, but it is just too much. I got burnt out so quickly and there was no support or understanding from my supervisors. I personally found the company culture to be toxic and reminiscent of the "good old boys club." I believe this is reflected in the high employee turnover. 

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Member services representative 7 salaries reported	$666 per week
Crew member 2 salaries reported	$785 per week
Crew leader 2 salaries reported	$775 per week
Forester 2 salaries reported	$848 per week
Interpreter 15 salaries reported	$579 per week

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