Wolf Creek Job Corps

Forestry		 Forestry students standing next to a campfire (All photos provided by courtesy of Job Corps center operators under contract to the US Department of Labor.)

Overview: The Wolf Creek Job Corps Forestry Program is designed to train students as entry-level forestry workers. There are four levels in the Forestry Program.

They are urban tree pruner; forest fire fighter; surveyor helper and forest technician. Students begin their studies by focusing on safety. They learn general forestry skills such as how to operate and maintain standard forestry hand and power tools. They explore silviculture, timber valuation, fire management, land measurement, and communication and data entry.

Wolf Creek Job Corps is the only Job Corps center that has a Hot Shot Fire Crew. The hot shots are a national resource, fighting forest fires throughout the United States. These positions give students an opportunity to earn money while they continue to learn about fire fighting techniques. There is also a Type II Crew that is an ad hoc fire fighting crew that is paid by fire. The third type of fire crew is the Camp Crew that supports work in fire camps. Sixteen through eighteen year olds usually staff it.

Instructor:Ron Johnson comes to Wolf Creek Job Corps with a vast amount of experience in Forestry throughout Oregon. His career began in 1975 doing forest thinning and Surveying after college. His experience includes Surveying, Timber Cruising and Marking, Timber Ecology and Inventory, and Fire Dispatch. Ron brings a lot of experience to help students succeed in forestry.

TARS: TARS, training achievement records, are used to track a student's completion of the specific skills needed to demonstrate proficiency in the duties and tasks used in an area of competency. This is an open entry and exit program wherein students progress at an individual pace. When a skill is demonstrated the student's level of performance is rated as follows:

  • (4) Highly proficient: meets job requirements for understanding, knowledge and performance of this task. If an evaluation of knowledge is required, the student answers correctly 90% of the knowledge items evaluated. If an evaluation of performance is required, the student consistently performs the task accurately with no supervision from the instructor.
  • (3) Proficient: If an evaluation of knowledge is required, the student answers correctly 70% of the knowledge items evaluated. If an evaluation of performance is required, the student consistently performs the task accurately with limited supervision from the instructor.
  • (2) Partially Proficient: If an evaluation of knowledge is required, the student answers correctly 40% of the knowledge items evaluated. If an evaluation of performance is required, the student performs the task only with the close supervision of the instructor.
  • (1) Limited Proficiency: Student has been introduced to the task.

Enrollment: There are 24 slots in the Forestry Program.

Tools: The Forestry Program strives to provide state of the art training for students.
Wolf Creek Job Corps · 2010 Opportunity Lane · Glide, OR 97443 · 1-800-588-9003 · Fax (541) 496-8515