Title: AIM Ecological Monitoring Crew Lead  

Reports to: AIM Program Coordinator and AIM Program Manager 

Location: Grand Junction BLM Field Office at 2815 H Road Grand Junction, CO 81506 

Status: Seasonal, Full-time, Camping Program   

Dates: March 28th, 2025 – October 31st, 2025 

Wages: $1025-1125/week, depending on prior experience and certifications.    

Benefits:  

• $18+/day food allowance while in the field camping. Smaller allowance for day trips. 

• Health benefits package that comes into effect on the 1st of the calendar month after the first 60 days 

• Paid days off personal leave and sick leave 

• Paid attendance to Wilderness First Aid Certification, Wilderness First Responder Recertification, or possible reimbursement 

• Two SCC field shirts 

• Supplemental career development opportunities and funds available throughout and upon successful completion of the season 

• Network with the BLM and expand your skillset for your career! 
• Hiring Benefits: Public Land Corps Hiring Authority: a noncompetitive hiring status for consideration when applying to competitive service positions for a federal agency. Eligible to be used for two years upon completion of term. 

Training: The crew lead will begin the season some weeks ahead of the members to become acquainted with the project, field office, and BLM staff. During the first 2+ weeks, crews undergo extensive technical training with the BLM and receive an in-depth orientation to the SCC culture and needed strategies for a successful field season.   

Housing: Crews are responsible for their own housing, transportation, and food between camping trips. For the most part, housing is not provided. Certain BLM Field Offices offer limited partially subsidized housing or domicile parking. We are glad to talk through your options with you in the interview and onward. For those lacking personal camping gear, we may be able to loan you gear.  
 

Application closes: February 8th, 2025    

Position Summary:   

Work with BLM staff at one of the file offices to conduct botanical and soil monitoring data using the BLM’s Terrestrial Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) methodology. To dive deeper into the AIM methodology, visit the following website: https://www.blm.gov/aim/. Work to inform land management and get paid to camp in remote landscapes and explore areas ranging from high deserts to low canyons! 

The AIM Ecological Monitoring Crew lead position is an opportunity to make a difference in young peoples’ lives while completing conservation projects on public and private lands. Leaders will be mentors, educators, and facilitators for young adults, working to promote the health and resiliency of our land, air, and water. 

Standard schedule generally consists of 8 days on-hitch (out in the field as a crew unit) and 6 days off or 4 days on-hitch and 3 days off, with some exceptions. Crew Leaders may also be required to come in for an additional day each hitch cycle to complete administrative duties and check-ins with program staff. On-hitch, crews camp together, prepare all meals together, and work together as a group to complete all projects and chores.   

This position requires patience, a consistently positive mental attitude, mentorship, technical aptitude, focus on efficiency, and a high level of competence in the outdoors. It also involves an administration role, where weekly paperwork is due in a timely manner to supervisors. Finally, crew leaders must exhibit the ability to effectively work on diverse teams and those from a variety of populations and communities.  

Crews typically consist of three individuals: two crew members and one crew lead. Together, they monitor land health by collecting AIM data on BLM lands including National Monument lands, vegetation treatments, burn scars, rangeland allotments, and wilderness study areas. In collecting data, observing the soil, and examining the diverse vegetation using the AIM methodology, crews contribute to a massive, publicly available data set that is used by land managers and in academia to inform and assess land management decisions. The crew may also contribute to other public land management projects, encompassing wildlife, range, recreation, rare plant monitoring, and forestry. The Gunnison Sage Grouse (GUSG) Habitat Assessment Framework Crew conducts AIM in Gunnison Sage Grouse occupied habitat in the Uncompahgre Field Office. They conduct AIM and several supplemental methods to assess habitat suitability for this threatened species. Sampling is conducted in two parts in accordance with GUSG lifecycle habitat requirements.

The term is typically routine with the goal to sample a target number of plots using the AIM methodology. On each plot, the crew is tasked with identifying plants to species, gathering species cover and composition data using line-point intercept and gap measurements, measuring soil stability, and describing the site and soil pits. All data are georeferenced and stored in an ArcGIS geodatabase. Data are entered into a database on site with ruggedized tablets to be later synthesized into various reports for future land management planning. Crews maintain and track botanical specimens of known and unknown species throughout the field season and keep records updated as needed. They continuously learn the local flora and build botanical knowledge. We need crew participants who are driven by curiosity about soil, botanical, and other natural systems. 

Responsibilities:   

Leadership & Mentorship  

• Understand and integrate Conservation Legacy’s DEI vision and values (diversity, equity, and inclusion) within crew community context. 

• Implement skills training on worksite and facilitate intentional discussions via informal lessons to contribute to the crew’s personal growth and group dynamics.   

• Promote individual corps member development and a safe, healthy, cohesive, other-centered and team-oriented community.   

• Follow and enforce all policies, maintain professional boundaries, and appropriately represent the program. This includes creating a substance free work environment, refraining from the use of tobacco products, alcohol, and drugs while involved in the program.   

Project Management & Implementation   

• Train, motivate and supervise a crew of young adults to efficiently complete tasks and objectives outlined in conservation projects, while working long hours and managing high quality of work and crew morale.  

• Manage field logistics and develop a hitch-plan prior to the start of the hitch to ensure that the crew reaches the sampling volume target by the end of the field season. 

• Think critically to resolve issues and problems, requesting assistance or help when needed.   

• Communicate & coordinate logistics with project partners & SCC staff.   

• At end of the season, the crew lead may analyze, interpret, or make deductions for varying data, and will report data to various BLM offices and stakeholders.  

• Be a proponent of sound science principles and plant identification. 

• Willingness to learn about how AIM data could be used in range, forestry, fire, and wildlife programs within the BLM. 

Safety & Risk Management   

• Monitor, manage, and promote the holistic health of the crew, including physical and emotional (intimidation free community environment) safety.    

• Exhibit strong situational awareness & promote a culture of safety.   

• Transport crew and equipment safely in either rental trucks or UTVs based on CL Driver policy.  

• Manage and document incidents in the field and activate incident response system, if needed, per Conservation Legacy policy. 

Administration   

• Thorough documentation of crew hours, accomplishments, disciplinary actions taken, and incident response according to Conservation Legacy policy and procedure    

• Manage food budget and credit card purchases. 

• Track and submit credit card receipts for all expenses every month. 

Camp Management 

• Oversee, manage, and assign camp chores (or camp tasks). 

• Monitor and manage crew community needs in camp. 

• Instruct crew in how to create a safe, hygienic, and tidy camp environment while mitigating crew caused impacts to campsites, practicing minimum impact camping techniques. 

• Maintain all program policies and procedures in camp environment. 

• Leading a camping crew is an intensive commitment requiring a continuous physical presence. Leaders must remain physically present, and cognitively and emotionally available to support community and individual crew member needs. 

Minimum Qualifications:   

• Full commitment to the program and its mission.   

• Understanding of and experience with the mission and field management considerations of conservation corps and public land agencies. 

• Leadership, management, and supervisory experience with youth or young adults.   

• Must hold current advanced medical certification (for front country crews: 24 hours Wilderness First Aid with CPR/AED or higher) or be willing to receive certification prior to start date.   

• Ability to effectively manage all aspects of crew life and production within a 40-50+-hour work week including managing projects, camping, and programmatic policies and integrity throughout. 

• Flexibility, adaptability, and capacity to work in a fluid, changing work environment.   

• Willingness to participate in community-building activities and solution-oriented problem solving with peer leaders.   

• Must be able to speak, understand and write English.   

• College graduate (Bachelor’s, at minimum) with coursework in ecology, botany, range science, soil science, wildlife biology, natural resource management, conservation biology, environmental studies, or a related field. 

• Must be at least 21 years old upon hire. 

• Must have possessed a driver’s license for 3 or years more without any restrictions (to pass minimum insurability requirements for crew transport driving duties).   

• Agrees to provide information to establish eligibility and to complete a National Service Criminal History Check.  

• Able to produce identification as stipulated by I-9 upon hire.  

• Capable of standing and walking (up to 6 miles/day on rough, steep, off-trail uneven terrain using a handheld GPS for route-finding), bending and crouching for long periods while taking precise, repetitive measurements, and lifting/carrying items that weigh up to 40 pounds, in upwards of 100-degree (F) heat while maintaining attention to detail and overall positive attitude.  

• Spend several hours per day safely operating 4WD trucks on paved and unpaved roads, often in remote areas on unimproved roads.   

• Excellent judgment in assessing physical, mental, and emotional risk while effectively working in and around adverse conditions, including extreme heat, sun exposure, monsoonal rains, and hazardous wildlife (i.e., rattlesnakes, scorpions, biting/stinging insects, cattle, and horses).     

• Experience camping in remote areas for multiple days.  

• Navigation software (Field Maps, Avenza, GAIA, etc.) as well as a compass for route finding.  

• Experience with (digital, preferred) data collection and Microsoft Suite software, or similar.  

• Excellent communication (including in-person, email, and phone), organizational, and planning skills.  

• Able to rapidly learn and organize the scientific names of dozens of plants per week, especially in the beginning of the season.  

• Self-motivated and able to work independently with limited supervision after the initial training period, with excellent discernment of when to ask for help and when to make decisions on your own.  

• Willingness to empower crew members to improve in performing their duties and developing personally and professionally.  

• Willingness to learn, teach, and adhere to best practices for field safety, comfort, and Leave No Trace principles.  

• Have self-awareness, desire for a positive crew culture, and excitement at the chance to have a close experience with the land.  

Preferred Qualifications or a Strong Desire to Grow in the Following:   

• Time-management skills and ability to work independently as well as with others.   

• Sense of humor, spirit of adventure, and desire to make a positive difference and promote leadership in others.   

• Leadership, facilitation, teaching, or conflict management.  

• Vegetation or rangeland health assessments, botanical inventory, or standardized ecological monitoring.  

• Terminology, techniques, data collection, and analysis methods, as well as equipment used in field biological research.  

• Local flora or identifying plants to species in the field, from photos, taxonomic keys, and/or pressed specimens.  

• Texturing soil by hand, characterizing soil pits, and identifying soil series or ecological sites based on observational and quantitative data.  

• Navigating with handheld GPS units.  

• Mobile data collection, like Field Maps for ArcGIS and Survey123.  

• ArcMap, ArcCatalog, and ArcGIS Online interface.  

• Statistical principles and programs, especially R.  

• Creating maps, performing basic analysis, and organizing data.  

• Working or recreating in desert or rangeland ecosystems.  

Any questions can be addressed to:   

AIM Program Coordinator: Madison McCluskey mmccluskey@conservationlegacy.org 

Conservation Legacy is an equal opportunity employer. We are committed to hiring a breadth of diverse professionals and encourage members of diverse groups to apply. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, political affiliation, protected veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law. We also consider qualified applicants regardless of criminal histories, consistent with legal requirements. If you need assistance and/or reasonable accommodation due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager.