Start/End Date: June 3, 2024 – November 29, 2024 (anticipated)

Term Length:  26 weeks

Stipend: $900/week ($600/week living stipend and $300/week housing allowance); housing allowance will be received regardless of living situation

Housing: Free housing provided on-site

Reports To: Senior Wildlife Biologist, Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge (NWR)

Location: 1001 State HWY 1, San Antonio, NM 87832

Status:  900-hour AmeriCorps Service Term; 40 hours/week

Benefits: professional development funds $4,500; Public Lands Corps Certificate* (that allows for competitive hiring for USA jobs/government jobs) and AmeriCorps Education Award $3,447 - both with successful completion of the internship; health insurance eligible.

AmeriCorps is the federal agency for national service and volunteerism. AmeriCorps provides opportunities for Americans of all backgrounds to serve their country, address the nation’s most pressing challenges, and improve lives and communities. Environmental stewardship programs help conserve natural habitats, improve energy efficiency, protect clean air and water, and help to mitigate the effects of climate change among other environmental efforts.

Conservation Corps New Mexico (CCNM)

Conservation Corps New Mexico, a program of Conservation Legacy and AmeriCorps partner, aims to continue the legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930's. CCNM is focused on connecting youth, young adults, and recent era military veterans with conservation service work projects on public lands. CCNM operates programs across New Mexico and west Texas that engage individuals and strengthen communities through service and conservation. The CCNM Las Cruces office manages the Individual Placement Program.

Mentorship

These Individual Placement Positions are unique development opportunities. Interns are paired with a local supervisor and gain technical, hands-on experience in the work of these organizations or agencies. Site supervisors commit to facilitate career development; provide an introduction to numerous pathways within the conservation field; and create accessible, meaningful, learning opportunities and experiences for interns.

Position Summary:

Bosque del Apache NWR was established in 1939 to provide a critical stopover site for migrating waterfowl. The 57,331-acres refuge is well known for the tens of thousands of cranes, geese, and ducks who winter here each year. Over 30,000 acres of Bosque del Apache are designated wilderness and serve as a year-round or seasonal home for four threatened or endangered species. Water movement throughout the management system occurs with a complex network of canals and irrigation ditches. Surface and groundwater interaction is a key function to the success of the refuge.

This position will focus on water management tasks, including chemically and mechanically treating invasive plant species that inhibit native seed production and threaten refuge water control structures, mowing moist-soil units, and conducting seed yield surveys. These water management tasks will not only benefit the refuge to meet its four biological priorities (1. monitoring water use and quality, 2. managing waterfowl and waterbirds, 3. improving management for listed species, and 4. treating invasive plant species) but will also benefit the community who recreate in the area and the local economy that depend on refuge visitation.

Depending on the technician’s interest, they will also have the opportunity to work with other refuge staff, fellows, and interns both in the field and office. These opportunities may include, but are not limited to, assisting Visitor Services with outreach programs, conducting southwestern willow flycatcher, yellow-billed cuckoo surveys, and waterbird surveys, and assisting the Maintenance Department with facility operations. In addition, the refuge will be hosting a career development workshop in August and the region will be hosting a week-long summit workshop in July for the technician to network and build relationships with other interns and fellows in the Southwest Region. Career development opportunities outside of refuge tasks may also be pursued.

Essential Responsibilities and Functions:

• Check water
  • Assist Water Manager with checking water levels of flooded and/or irrigated management units.
  • Record levels and make appropriate adjustments to water control structures in accordance with management (e.g., irrigation, cocklebur treatment, flood-up, listed species management).
  • Check langemann gates and record U/S level and CFS.
  • Remove weeds and potential plugs in water control structures using a weed rake.
• Moist-soil Management
  • Cocklebur treatments
    • Work with Biology and Maintenance Department to treat cocklebur infestations within moist-soil units. This task requires the use of an agricultural tractor.
  • Fall moist-soil mowing
    • Work with Biology and Maintenance Department to mow moist-soil units and prepare for winter waterbird arrival. This task requires the use of an agricultural tractor.
  • Invasive plant species and noxious weed treatment
    • Work with Water Manager and Biologist to identify priority sites for treatment.
    • Assist Water Manager with treatments. This can include spraying around water control structures and facilities and within moist-soil units.
  • Conduct moist-soil seed yield and crop yield surveys within the refuge’s moist-soil units and farm units, respectively.
  • Utilize GIS, GIS applications, and Microsoft Office to properly record and manage data. Report results to refuge staff.

Trainings Provided:

• Required:
  • USFWS Tier 1 Heavy Equipment – agricultural tractor
  • Off-road utility vehicle training (ORUV) and certification for utility task vehicle (UTV)
  • Pesticide mixing and application
  • Checking water and langemann gate operation
  • Plant identification
  • GIS and Microsoft Office relevant to project
  • Information Management & Technology (IMT) Awareness
  • Defensive Driving
• Optional:
  • Yellow-billed cuckoo protocol training
  • Shorebird survey training
  • Chainsaw

Working Conditions:

• Slippery/wet conditions
• Heavy lifting
• Use of a sharp tools
• Use of heavy equipment and UTV on uneven terrain
• Use of pole saw
• Pesticide application

Minimum Qualifications:

• Per federal grant requirements, this position is for young adults between the ages of 18-30 (35 for veterans), inclusive, at the time the individual begins term of service.
• Driver’s license and clean driving record
• Exposure to and/or some use of agricultural tractor
• Ability to lift 30lbs
• High school diploma

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with operating an agricultural tractor
• Experience with pesticide application
• Experience with utilizing ArcGIS and GIS applications for data recording and management
• Plant identification

Physical Requirements:

• To successfully perform essential functions, the individual is required to sit, stand, walk, speak, hear, etc. May be required to stoop, kneel, crouch or crawl for significant periods of time and be able to safely lift 50 pounds on a routine basis. He/she must be able to operate office equipment, telephone, and computer and reach with hands and arms.
• Ability to hike and navigate in rough terrain.
• Reasonable accommodation may be made for qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. 

Participant Essential Eligibility Requirements/Participation and Expedition Behavior:

• Work effectively as a member of a team despite potentially stressful and difficult conditions. This may require problem solving on an interpersonal or group level as well as a willingness to accept
• Contribute to a safe learning environment, no harassment of others for any
• Willingness and ability to complete all aspects of the program including conservation projects, education, training, and national
• Effectively communicate ideas and concerns as they arise directly to supervisors, colleagues, and organization
• Appropriately represent Conservation Corps New Mexico, U.S Fish and Wildlife Service, and AmeriCorps to the public and partners at all
• Flexibility, adaptability, and capacity to work in a fluid, changing work

Safety and Judgment: 

• Effectively communicate danger to others in the form of either a warning of danger others may be encountering or a notification of personal distress, injury or need for assistance. Must be able to do so at a distance of up to 50 meters and in conditions with limited visibility or loud background noise such as darkness or high
• Effectively perceive and understand significant and apparent hazards and follow direction by others so that you will be able to successfully execute techniques to manage hazards. These directions may be given before the hazard is encountered or may need to be given during the exposure to the hazard. Ability to respond appropriately to stress or
• Stay alert and focused for several hours at a time while traveling and working in varied weather conditions.
• If taking prescription medications, participants must be able to maintain proper dosage by self- medicating without assistance from

Substance Free:

• In accordance with a drug free workplace, alcohol and drugs are prohibited while participating in AmeriCorps and program activities and while on organization property.

Background Check:

A DOI background clearance must be completed before the selected candidate may report to duty. The Fish and Wildlife Service will provide instructions for completion of the clearance after an intern has been selected and will notify them when they have been cleared to start the internship. This process will determine the internship’s exact start date.

Interns will have access to government facilities and systems, and will be supplied with access to gov’t vehicles, equipment, and materials needed to work on the projects and activities as outlined above. Interns must adhere to all government regulations and policies for operating equipment, vehicles, security awareness, and safety.

*To be eligible for a Public Lands Corps certificate, interns must be between the ages of 18-30 (35 for veterans), inclusive, at the time the individual begins the term of service.

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 a reasonable accommodation due to a disability during application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager.

To Apply: Please submit an updated resume and cover letter along with the online application at https://corpsnm.org/individual-placement-openings . Consideration will be given as resumes are received and this position may close at any time. If you have questions, contact CCNM’s Individual Placement Program Coordinator, SamJean Simmons at ssimmons@conservationlegacy.org.

For more information about Conservation Corps New Mexico, please visit www.corpsnm.org. Conservation Corps New Mexico is a program of Conservation Legacy.