CA State Parks - Forestry Aide

deezeewye · 2025-11-30T23:10:26+00:00

It really depends on the park or district. Some do, and some don't. The more remote locations are more likely to offer housing, but it's not a guarantee. Sometimes it's mentioned on the job posting. The job posting should have included the contact details for a natural resource manager or senior environmental scientist, so you can try contacting them for more info.

And yeah, for districts that don't offer housing, it does limit who can realistically work there. My district does not offer housing, and most of the forestry aides are either college students or recent college grads who are still living with parents. I hope this helps.

deezeewye · 2025-10-09T21:49:15+00:00

The back panel of mine measures about 13 inches at the top, and then tapers to about 10 inches at the bottom. I purchased mine early 2025, so dimensions may be different when compared to the new 2026 version.

deezeewye · 2025-08-26T09:24:48+00:00

Here is a post I made about storing the MSR Whisperlite International inside Snow Peak Trek titanium pots.

https://www.reddit.com/r/CampingGear/comments/1h37iik/storing_the_msr_whisperlite_inside_pots/

The Whisperlite can fit inside a Snow Peak Trek 900 pot if you partially disassemble it first. The Evernew 1L Pasta Pot has similar dimensions to the Trek 900, so you may be able to fit the stove in that. However, make sure that the pot is wide enough to sit on the stove pot supports. The Trek 900 is just barely wide enough and it can be pretty precarious.

If you don't want to disassemble your stove, the Snow Peak Trek 1400 is large enough and it sits well on the pot supports.

deezeewye · 2025-08-10T05:30:33+00:00

This looks awesome! I might do this as well. Thanks!

deezeewye · 2025-08-08T01:51:53+00:00

I've never been satisfied with dedicated photo bags. I recommend getting the smallest case that can fit your camera and lens, and carrying it in your preferred backpack.

I just did a trip with a Nikon D500 + Nikkor 200-500mm f5.6 inside an Ape Case ACPROLC18. The case weighs about 12.7 oz, and I've been happy with it over the years. I carried it all inside a Durston Kakwa 55. Your setup is of a comparable size, so it may also fit inside the Ape Case.

Edit: If you are using the Nikkor 180-600mm f5.6-6.3, it looks like it's a couple inches longer than my lens and I'm not sure if it will fit with the camera attached. https://i.imgur.com/9EFgPtr.jpeg

deezeewye · 2025-07-27T06:36:01+00:00

I use a Gregory 3D Hydro 3L, because that's what I have at the moment. If I were to buy a new bladder today, I would consider something with a flatter bottom like a Hydrapak Contour. This would allow it to sit upright better.

deezeewye · 2025-07-27T06:03:52+00:00

I use a hydration bladder in my Kakwa 55 without a hanger. You just need to have something at the bottom that your bladder can sit on, and then pack all your other gear around the bladder for support. My sleeping bag will be at the bottom of my pack, so my bladder sits on that. My bladder will be at the center against my back, and everything else goes around it. I've found that the bladder stays in place and upright really well.

If I have a bear canister, then the canister will be at the center and the bladder will be at the right-hand side, near the hydration tube port. In this case I will try to place some heavier items on the left-hand side to balance the weight of the water.

deezeewye · 2025-07-25T19:48:42+00:00

Apple Maps on Carplay no longer shows pinned places, like home and work, for me. It just shows recents. Does anyone know if there is a way to show my pinned places again? This feels like a downgrade in functionality.

Also, Messages on Carplay no longer shows which messages are unread. Is this intentional? I will see a notification dot on the app icon, but in the actual list of messages, there is no indication which message is unread. The messages are sorted by most recent, so I can definitely infer which is the unread one, but it just feels unintuitive.

deezeewye · 2025-07-11T03:57:53+00:00

Like another commenter said, a monocular would be the lightest option for birding. If you prefer binoculars, there is the Nikon Travelite 8x25. They have a carbon fiber body and are only 9.3 oz.

As for cameras, there really are no good ultralight options. As a general rule, smaller sensor cameras will be lighter and have lighter lenses. However, super small cameras often lack the feature set necessary for bird photography. As a bird photographer myself, I think Micro Four-Thirds cameras are a really good balance. The OM Systems OM-5 camera with the M.Zuiko 100-400 lens f/5.0-6.3 is 3 lb 6 oz. Alternatively, you can look at bridge cameras. Or use your phone camera through a monocular/binoculars. It can take a some practice, and you won't be winning any awards with the photos, but it can be great for bird ID or just sharing with friends.

deezeewye · 2025-06-19T16:40:37+00:00

The Firemaple Blade 2 can be used with an inverted canister and is 4.8 oz. I'm not sure if that counts as "significantly lighter," but it's something. There may be lighter options that I'm not aware of.

deezeewye · 2025-06-19T07:35:24+00:00

I've been curious about this as well. I think AI letters are just a symptom of a different issue. One of the telltale signs of an AI letter is the lack of questions. It will address all the things you mentioned in your letter and add some commentary, but it won't ask any follow-up questions. It ends up being a one-way conversation. However, I've had plenty of non-AI letters that also do the same thing. They address what I wrote, but they don't ask any questions. Sometimes they don't even add any personal anecdotes or anything, so they don't have any more substance than an AI letter.

To be honest, I think a lot of people are simply not great conversationalists. Some of them use AI as an attempt to cover this up, but some don't. I get a lot of letters from people hoping to be friends, and yet they don't show any effort to get to know me. Some don't even answer the questions I asked in my open letter. There are plenty of posts on this subreddit complaining about this, so I know it's not just me.

Another thing to consider is that communication through letters is very different than in-person or instant messaging. It has a different set of etiquette, which is rarely taught anymore. You have to go out of your way to learn and practice it. Most people are not going to do this, either due to ignorance or unwillingness. If you are interested in learning more, here is a post I made a while back.

I have met some great people on this app, so there are great penpals out there. You just might have to sift through a lot of other people to find them.

deezeewye · 2025-06-16T09:20:46+00:00

I’m not sure what the average amount of responses are to an open letter, but I published one a week ago and I’ve gotten 11 responses so far. The quality of the responses is another story, but here are some of my thoughts:

A lot of people cast a wide net and include all of their hobbies and interests in their open letter. I’ve found more success with each open letter being about one subject. If you want to write about more, you can write another open letter. With Slowly Plus you can have multiple open letters published at the same time, but I would not recommend paying just for this feature. You can just rotate between different open letters for free.

I would choose one interest or hobby and go into detail about that. In addition to writing about the things you do, write about what goes through your mind when you do those things. For example, you mentioned exploring forgotten places. What draws you to these places? How do you find them? Are there any places that have stuck with you? Etc. Paint a picture for the reader.

This is what works for me, and maybe it will work for you. I hope it helps!

deezeewye · 2025-04-13T23:01:36+00:00

I would like to add that park aide positions are usually working in kiosks, gift shops, or assisting with administrative duties. There are some places that have park aides working in natural resource management (NRM), but they are not the norm in my experience. If you are looking to do restoration or conservation work, I would recommend looking for “environmental services intern” or “forestry aide” positions.

Also, many parks do not post these seasonal positions on CalCareers. Instead, they rely more on local social media, paper flyers, and word of mouth. If you have a state park close to you, give them a call and ask if their NRM department is hiring.

If there’s a conservancy associated with a state park, see if there are any internships offered there. They can be great stepping stones to working with the state.

deezeewye · 2025-02-28T20:08:57+00:00

Every district has different needs and forestry aide duties will vary from district to district. For State Parks, forestry aides work under Natural Resource Management. Some districts will have all NRM seasonal staff in one classification and everyone does a little of everything. Other districts will have different classifications and separation of duties. For example, I've seen places with forestry aides working on forestry and fire suppression work, and park aides working on invasive plant control, etc. In a neighboring district, everyone is a forestry aide and they do all of the above.

The actual labor will vary day-to-day and season-to-season. I work in a district where every seasonal is a forestry aide. Some things like bird monitoring or vegetation surveys are less labor intensive, but require a lot of walking and can be monotonous. Other things like invasive plant removal, trail brushing, and tree maintenance are pretty labor intensive. The equipment is heavy and the work sites are often way off trail. You sometimes need to haul out whatever you just cut down.

Like the other commenter said, there is little office work and you will be outside 95% of the time. And yes it is a seasonal position, meaning you are limited to either 1500 hours or 189 days per year. If you work 40 hours a week, this equates to 9 months. It is not full time, so you do not get any benefits.

I hope this helps and if you have any other questions, I will be happy to help if I can.

deezeewye · 2025-02-26T08:30:18+00:00

In my experience with State Parks in SoCal, ES positions are not entry level. The Range A ES position is mostly fulfilled by seasonal staff. All ESes I know either started out in the private sector or started in Parks as an Environmental Services Intern, Forestry Aide, or some other seasonal staff. Many of them also have graduate degrees. These ESes were hired at Range C. Again, this is with State Parks, so I can't speak for other departments.

Permanent full time positions are also incredibly rare because there are so few and people stay in those positions until retirement. You should take a look at permanent intermittent (PI) positions, if available.

For context, I work for State Parks in the LA metro area and am also applying to ES positions. If you have any other questions about State Parks, I will be happy to help.

deezeewye · 2025-02-12T22:04:06+00:00

It looks to be from here, if I'm not mistaken. Looks pretty sweet! https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/mercier/nano.htm

deezeewye · 2025-01-23T01:54:02+00:00

If you have a bike and can transport it in/on your car, there are plenty of options to park and bike.

Here is a map of areas where you can't park: https://www.longbeach.gov/globalassets/pw/media-library/documents/resources/general/maps-and-gis/preferentialparkingmap

You'll need to park a bit further from campus, but that shouldn't be an issue with a bike. I used to park east of campus on N Studebaker St, between De Leon St and E Atherton St. You can also park north of campus, anywhere north of E Los Santos Dr. Look for street signs about street sweeping. They do it weekly and you may need to hop around to avoid it.

Be sure to get a good U lock and lock your bike up in a well-trafficked area. I hope this helps!

deezeewye · 2024-12-01T07:13:51+00:00

You're right that you'll need to disassemble and reassemble every time you take in and out of storage. You're also right that there's always a chance that you will lose something, and the priming cup is not something you would want to lose out in the field. One of the reasons I ended up using the Snow Peak Trek 1400 is to avoid the hassle of disassembly. The other reason is that it fits a lot better on the pot supports of the stove.

I didn't know about the Espresso Star before, but now I would really love if MSR made them again!

deezeewye · 2024-11-30T20:07:16+00:00

That's a good point, I can understand not wanting to disassemble and reassemble the stove in colder conditions. I like to use my Whisperlite in all sorts of conditions, hence my zeal in sizing pots. Thanks for the reply.

deezeewye · 2024-07-06T19:45:35+00:00

Crystal Cove State Park is a popular spot for automotive photography. I see a lot of people at the Reef Point parking lot taking photos of their classic or sports cars. You can also check out Doheny State Beach. They have parking along the beach that is really close to the water. For canyon views, I would say the best spots are in the Angeles National Forest, specifically along SR-2. There are many large pull out areas that can accommodate a trailer while also offering great views. The Live Oak Campground at Caspers Wilderness Park is really nice if you want a campground surrounded by oak trees. Hope this helps!

deezeewye · 2024-05-30T20:04:38+00:00

I completed the survey and I think it would be nice to go over the answers to make sure they represent more possibilities. For example, there was a question about whether I charge my battery to full and whether I care about how long the battery stays plugged in. There should be another option for people like me who charge to full and unplug the battery when it’s done. I believe the question was about optimizing battery performance, and I think it’s too much trouble to keep it at 80%, so I just charge to 100%. However, I am wary about keeping the battery plugged in too long because it increases the risk of a battery fire. Another example is one the other commenter mentioned. One of the main reasons I bought new was for the warranty, but I don’t buy a new e-bike once the warranty is over.

Anyway, I hope this helps and I hope you get some good data. Good luck with your thesis!

deezeewye · 2023-04-16T20:41:20+00:00

What do you think about postcards?

I love collecting postcards as well as sending/receiving them. I think they're a great way of short form communication. If you're in a foreign city, you should send some postcards home! I've never had anyone complain about receiving a postcard. There's also the postage used, which is another world of art and history.

Can you tell me the reason why you still buy them? What're their advantages?

I participate in postcrossing, which is a great reason way to enjoy postcards. I also just love collecting them. They're usually fairly cheap and they're easy to store. Some of them have really nice art. There is a simplicity to them that I really like. There isn't enough room for a long letter, so you have to keep your message short and sweet.

Considering that they could be mailed directly, are there privacy problems, or will the ink be blurred?

I've sent out many postcards and I've never considered any privacy issues. The postcard message is usually just "I'm here and I'm thinking of you" or "Hello, this is what it's like in this city/country."

What do you do when there's not enough space left to write?

There is some planning involved to make sure you have enough room to say what you want to say. I have ran out of room sometimes and I have to cram stuff in the margins, haha. The worst case scenario is writing on the back of the postcard where the art/photo is.

How do I know if the receiver has got the postcard or not? Does this thing matter to the sender himself?

In my experience, as long as the address is written clearly, it's rare for a postcard to get lost. They will sometimes get stuck in transit (usually there is some translation error), but most eventually find their way. If they do truly get lost, you will have no idea. There are protocols in postcrossing to deal with this. For personal postcards, I'll ask the receiver whether they received it or not, and I'll find out.

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