17 Dec A Day in My Position

Hi Everyone!

Val here in Portland, Oregon. I am a Program Assistant for the National Recreation Fee Program based out of the Washington Office. My supervisor and I both sit in Portland, however, and have office space out of the Regional Office for the Pacific Northwest Region. Due to telework guidance, I am working from my home office! Although I’m not a front liner on the field, I do find working from home to be a treat, especially in a city like Portland, where plenty of parks, shops, and stores can be a short walk away from home during a lunch break!

As a Program Assistant, I work with the Assistant National Recreation Fee Program Manager to improve communications and provide some organizational management. From home, this normally looks like working on projects, sending emails, and sitting in on a variety of meetings from my home office, and if the weather is great, from my backyard or front porch.

I sit in on a lot of different meetings throughout the week. Some national, some specific to the Washington Office, others with a specific region or forest that is needing help. When I’m not in meetings, I’m typically sitting in on webinars, exchanging info and resources with my cohort, and working on implementing the Inquiry project I’m assigned to.

Due to travel restrictions, I am not traveling nearly as much as there normally is opportunity for, but every once in a while I get to pop over to the Mount Hood National Forest or the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area!

Just a few weeks ago I was able to visit the Zig Zag District Office just one hour out of Portland, where city turns to forest scenery. I got the chance to meet with some frontline employees and learn more about what the process of recreation pass sales is like I also went into the forest to put a draft training video on employing cell boosters for our Automated Fee Machines to the test.

Overall, the opportunity to work from home has been really rewarding. In the future, we are aiming for a hybrid experience, so I can get the best of both worlds!