Senior Citizen Forestry Program Is More Than Walk in the Woods

Alex Molnar, 71, spends three days a week combing the Cleveland National Forest for signs of earlier civilizations. Before the foresters can start any project that disturbs the grounds--from building a fence to burning down brush--the site must be surveyed for archeological remains. So Molnar, a compact figure dressed in work pants, hiking boots and a green baseball cap bearing the insignia of the U.S. Forest Service, is sent out in search of pottery shards and stone mortars.

“I like it, I like to work,” Molnar said. “If you’re interested in history and if you like going outside, not always sitting in the office, this is good.”

Molnar is one of 15 men and women over 55 who are supplementing limited incomes by working part-time for the Descanso Ranger District. Their duties range from answering phones to cleaning campsites to planting trees. They can work up to 1,300 hours a year and earn the current minimum wage of $3.35 an hour.

“A lot of them are retired and drawing Social Security and frankly need the money,” said Joan Wynn, who supervises the program. “It’s really hard to live on Social Security. (This program) is really designed to put some money back in the pockets of older Americans and to try to get them back working in the private sector at higher wages.”

Older, Not Old

The Forest Service is currently the only federal agency sponsoring the work program, which was established by the Older Americans Act in 1975. The workers joke that they are not “old,” just “older.”

The jobs were originally conceived as training positions that would provide low-income senior citizens with the skills and confidence needed to get a full-time job. Some stay with the Forest Service a year or two and then move on to better-paying employment elsewhere. Others enjoy the work so much they stay for years.

“We have some success in placing them in the private sector, but we have a few who do pretty unique work,” Wynn said. “There’s really no place else for them to use their training.”

Molnar is one of those. When he joined the Forest Service eight years ago, he spent a week studying the history of California and learning how to find and identify artifacts. A history teacher in his native Hungary, Molnar could not find work in his field when he immigrated to the United States in 1956. Through the employment program, he is once again immersed in the subject that is his first love.

Walking earlier this week through a part of the forest he said was once occupied by the Kumeyaay Indians, Molnar pointed out the kinds of materials he looks for when doing a survey. Within 15 minutes, he found a dozen chips of pottery and four stones with bowl-like containers carved into their surfaces.

“After a while, your eyes just pick things up,” he said. “We’re always finding things.”

Most of the jobs are less esoteric than Molnar’s. Jean Gouch, 61, is part of a three-person crew that does maintenance work in the forest’s recreational areas. For her, the program

is an opportunity to earn the money she needs to support herself; it is her only source of income.

“I wanted the money,” Gouch said. “And I wanted to work outside, not inside, in an office.”

Her co-worker, Lowell Garvin, a retired minister, was also drawn to the work by his love of the outdoors.

“This is one of the most healthful pursuits one could have,” Garvin said. “The fresh air, the good water and the exercise.” He added that fringe benefits of the job are frequent encounters with a variety of animals--from squirrels to deer to coyotes.

“One time I had a squirrel climbing up my pants leg, and another time I had a blue jay come and sit right on my shoulder,” he said.

One day last week, Gouch, Garvin and Hilton Pence were planting grass seed on a plot of land that’s being turned into an equestrian campground. On other occasions, they’ve had to clean out the restrooms and cart away the 100 bags of sawdust that were left behind after two eucalyptus trees were cut down.

“One thing about our job, it’s never boring,” said Pence, whose salary supplements the disability income he gets from the Army. “There’s a variety of things to do.”

Gouch said she looks forward to the activity, even when it’s physically demanding. Her favorite task is keeping the campsites clean.

“Sometimes, the four days off are too long,” she said. “My age sounds old, but I sure don’t feel that way. I have a 39- and a 40-year-old son and I feel younger than they are.”

Jerri Mentior enjoys most being able to help people on her job. Mentior, 64, works the front desk at the Descanso Ranger Station and is the first person many visitors see.

“I get a great deal of satisfaction when I can help someone, even if it’s only giving them directions,” she said. “I think I’m being used the best I can be.”

In addition to answering phones and fielding questions from the public, Mentior has been learning a variety of office procedures, including word-processing. She hopes to parlay these skills into a higher-paying job.

“I’ll see where I stand when I get more training on the computer because that will make my value go up,” she said. “This is a great place to work--the people are nice--but if I get more skills, I’ll be able to make more money.”

Wynn said she’s been very pleased with the older workers’ job performance; she is planning to hire four more.

“I don’t know where we’d be without them,” Wynn said. “There is a little bit of discrimination toward the elderly and I think, boy, the employers don’t know what they’re missing.”