Inventory & Monitoring Refuge Support Members - Pacific Southwest Region

Inventory & Monitoring Refuge Support Members - Pacific Southwest Region   

Summary
American Conservation Experience, a nonprofit Conservation Corps, in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), is seeking five Inventory & Monitoring Refuge Support Members to assist U.S. Fish and Wildlife staff in developing and implementing an Inventory and Monitoring Program on National Wildlife Refuges (NWRs) in the Pacific Southwest Region in California and Nevada.

For more information about ACE, please visit our website at usaconservation dot org.

Start Date: 1/13/2025
Estimated End Date: 1/10/2026
*a 52-week minimum commitment is required, approximately 2080 hours*

Location Details/Description: Each member will serve at two refuges in the Pacific Southwest Region over the course of their term. Most refuge locations are remote or adjacent to small towns. Potential locations include Ruby Lake NWR, San Luis NWR Complex, Desert NWR Complex, San Francisco Bay NWR Complex, Humboldt Bay NWR, Sonny Bono Salton Sea NWR, Stillwater NWR, and Kern NWR Complex. Candidates will be matched with locations based on skills, station needs, and logistical considerations. Details will be discussed during the interview process and will be finalized when positions are offered. 

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Pacific Southwest Region has federal fish and wildlife management responsibilities in California, Nevada, and the Klamath Basin in southern Oregon. The Region includes one of the most ecologically diverse areas in the United States, ranging from the arid sand dunes in the Mojave Desert to the snow-capped crags in the high Sierras; from rich farmland in the Central Valley to rain-soaked redwood forests along the Pacific coast. This highly diverse geography provides habitats for a vast array of wildlife. More than 42 million people live within the Region, and expanding population centers such as San Francisco Bay Area, Los Angeles, Reno, San Diego, and Las Vegas are increasing demands on natural resources, presenting unique challenges to the Region’s conservation mission.

For more information about Pacific Southwest National Wildlife Refuges, please visit the FWS website. 

Position Overview: 

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is working with others to conserve, protect, and enhance fish, wildlife, plants, and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. This position will help FWS realize that mission at two National Wildlife Refuges. This position includes participating in inventory and monitoring planning, monitoring implementation, data preservation, and refuge natural resource management. Each member will serve at multiple refuges over the course of their term.

Duties for this position include: 

• Inventory and Monitoring Plan Development (Percentage of Time: 40%)
  • Assist the Division of Natural Resources and Conservation Planning Inventory and Monitoring leaders in implementation of an Inventory and Monitoring Plan on National Wildlife Refuges through documentation of a survey protocol for a refuge priority ecosystem, habitat or species. 
  • Prepare, edit, and preserve a survey protocol, training materials, standard operating procedures and other documents that are needed to assist Refuge biologists and technicians to implement the survey. 
  • Edit and preserve existing protocol reports. Protocol documentation will follow methods and templates provided by Inventory and Monitoring. 
  • Prepare documentation of the survey based on review of existing documentation, observations, and communication with Refuge staff and non-refuge partners who participate in the survey by using knowledge of biological systems, databases, ArcGIS and R. 
  • Assist in implementation of the survey protocol and use observations made during this implementation to enhance existing documentation. 
• Data Preservation (Percentage of Time: 20%) 
  • Document and archive at least two high priority natural resource datasets for each refuge. 
  • Review of data, assessment and documentation of data quality, writing and editing of metadata, and archiving of products on the USFWS centralized data system ServCat. Training and support will be provided by Inventory and Monitoring and Refuge staff. 
• Field Station Support (Percentage of Time: 40%)
  • Assist in Refuge resource management and operations as needed to support the mission of the Refuges and their priorities.  
  • Perform biological surveys, restoration activities, invasive species management, habitat management, visitor services, or facilities maintenance. 
  • Assist with the management and monitoring of Refuge priority ecosystems and species, maintenance of station facilities, and public programs by using knowledge of natural resource monitoring and management techniques, public relations, species identification, spreadsheet and database programs, ArcGIS and statistical analysis.

These placements are meant to facilitate professional development and promote exposure to land management agencies and networking with professionals. This could include gaining experience at different National Wildlife Refuges, in different conservation fields and shadowing different work groups.

Schedule: Duties will primarily be carried out Monday - Friday. Bi-weekly totals should not exceed 80 hours. A flexible work schedule may be required, which could involve work performed outside of normal work hours including on weekends and/or holidays. Time off may be granted and requests should be directed to ACE and the FWS for approval.