BLM in Brookings? (Medford, Coos Bay: job market, living in, stores)

[hayley3b]

My boyfriend, my two young kids, and I want to get out of California and we have been doing alot of research on Brookings but there is only so much you can find out online. It seem's realy nice and we will be going to check it out in April but my curiosity is killing me. The most important question I have is, is there a BLM station in Brookings? My boyfriend is a firefighter and would love to continue in that field but we can only seem to find the District Offices, the closet one being in Coos Bay. Surely there has to be stations closer to Brookings, so if anyone could tell us more about that we would greatly appreciate it! Im sure there are citizens of Brookings that work for BLM, so do they commute all the way to Coos Bay? Next question what is the weather usually like in Brookings in April? Is this a good time to visit? Also I've been reading the Curry Coastal Pilot and read that Brookings may get a tsunami! Is this certain and wouldn't a tsunami wipe out the town? I dont know much about them but I would hate to move my family there and then get dislocated because of a tsunami. Any other information anyone may have about Brookings would be awesome,and thank you in advance!

[Fiddlehead]

We have a huge BLM office in Medford. That is the closest one, I believe, except for the Coos Bay office. Brookings is a pretty small market.
The next biggest place down the coast for BLM jobs is Arcata/Eureka in N. California. National Park Service has an office in Crescent City (even more prone to tsunamis). Redding to the interior also has jobs.

All in all, for firefighting, I would vote for Medford, but the job market stinks. Really badly...pew!!

[hayley3b]

Thanks Fiddlehead for the reply,
That's a bummer there's no BLM station in Brookings! We live in a town twice as small as Brookings in northern California and we have 3 right near us, how can that be? Well do you or anyone else have any ideas of other jobs that may be available in that area for someone with woodcutting and firefighting experience? I've heard about the South Coast Lumber company, know anything about that? Thanks Again

[delta07]

Originally Posted by hayley3b

Thanks Fiddlehead for the reply,
That's a bummer there's no BLM station in Brookings! We live in a town twice as small as Brookings in northern California and we have 3 right near us, how can that be? Well do you or anyone else have any ideas of other jobs that may be available in that area for someone with woodcutting and firefighting experience? I've heard about the South Coast Lumber company, know anything about that? Thanks Again

I think your best bet is to have your boyfriend start applying for those federal jobs now (try Forest Service as well), as well as some of the private fire fighting businesses in Oregon and plan your move based on that. Oregon is (or at least used to be) a big timber state, so there are plenty of people with that kind of experience who are all struggling to find jobs. It could take him several seasons to get hired on (if he does at all) and it would be a huge mistake to move there with only the hope of landing a job right away.

Brookings is a small retirement community that can be really expensive. Without a sure line of work, you could easily find yourself displaced, not because of a tsunami, but due to unemployment.

[Smiled]

"we have 3 right near us, how can that be? "

1. Effective lobbying by local Representatives
2. Proximity to BLM land.

Brookings is a nice place to live as an adult, but I wouldn't want to raise my kids there. The ones I've met are nice enough but have very low aspirations.

[Steve Pickering]

I will try to say this with as much of a positive spin as I can. Taking into account the type of work your boyfriend is looking for, and your comment about the Lumber Mill, NO, there is no reason for you to move to Brookings, There is no work avaialble.

[Metlakatla]

A friend of mine does wildlife firefighting and she goes all over Oregon and California, wherever she is needed.

A lot of things on Craigslist are scams these days, but since this has a local telephone number, it might be worth a call for your BF:

WILDLAND FIREFIGHTER (http://bend.craigslist.org/lab/2148565272.html - broken link)

[hayley3b]

Thank you everyone for your information. To Steve Pickering I'm assuming you live in Brookings or atleast Oregon and I appreciate you view but I am not to worried about your warnings of no work. Theres always work somewhere if you try hard enough and I refuse to let the economy stop me from living in a beautiful town. Im living in a very small, advantageless hole in the wall town in California where jobs are even more few and far between then in Brookings. Our paper comes out only once a week and has had the same two to four jobs in it for the last three. By the way those jobs are not even in California, they are in Oregon, ha ha ha! I've been reading the Brookings paper which comes out twice a week and each time there has been atleast ten jobs listed. I think with what I have been dealing with in my current town my odds in Brookings are alot better. I have alot of public service experience and have always found that to be a key factor in my ability to find a job(i.e, waitressing, cashier, etc.) These jobs may not be something I want to make a career of but they will get my foot in the door for sure! If I can make it in Alturas I can make it anywhere and Brookings seems like the perfect place for my young family. Thanks Again and keep the "positive" information coming!

[Steve Pickering]

Why ask for advice if you are not going to take it. I am familur with Alturas and if you don't like it, you sure ain't gonna like Brookings. But it is your life, so do as you wish.

[hayley3b]

Im just asking for information on the town of Brookings not for reasons not to move there. You must not be to familiar with Alturas because you would not be comparing it to beautiful Brookings. Alturas used to be a beautiful town from what I hear but in the last ten years it's turned into a drug infested hole where the most popular past time is getting wasted. Why dont you look at our police report? There are still some good people that live here but those are the few that leave town whenever they get a chance and visit places like Brookings to get away from it all. I 've lived in the San Francisco Bay Area for 15 years and I know that is not where I want to be. I like the small town feel but I need a different small town then Alturas that's for sure! I love the Coast and the rain so Brookings seems perfect. Ive also been living with out any major stores for the past ten years. I look forward to having a store like Fred Meyer near me. Mybe you are assuming Ive been living in typical California, where everything one might need is within an arms reach and the weather is always sunny. That is not the case, that's why I said if I can make it into Alturas I can make it anywhere. Being isolated is nothing new to me and again Brookings definitley has more to offer my family and I then are current location. Thanks Again!