Conservation Legacy Program: Stewards Individual Placements

Site Location: Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge, 74 Grays Lake Rd, Wayan, ID 83285

Terms of Service:

• Ideal Start Date: Monday, April 20th, 2026
• End Date: Friday, October 16th, 2026
• AmeriCorps Slot Classification: 900 Hour, 26 weeks

Purpose:

Stewards Individual Placements (Stewards), a program of Conservation Legacy, provides individuals with AmeriCorps service and career opportunities to strengthen communities and preserve our natural resources. Participants serve with federal agencies, Tribal governments, and nonprofits to provide institutional capacity, develop community relationships, and support ecosystem health. Stewards partners with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to facilitate the WaterCorps Program to provide opportunities to federally enrolled Tribal Members seeking to gain experience in the water resources field. This WaterCorps position will be hosted at the Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge and will host a Water Resources Technician.

The Water Resources Technician is an AmeriCorps position that will advance the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s understanding of the hydrology of Grays Lake and how it could be managed in the future to better meet biological and community water needs. Grays Lake NWR overlaps with the ancestral lands of the Shoshone-Bannock Tribes, and Tribal members continue to collect native plants and roots and to hunt on this land. Grays Lake NWR also neighbors several private cattle ranching operations, as well as BLM, USFS, and State-owned lands. At USFWS, we value collaboration with our neighbors and partners, problem-solving, and scientific integrity, and we strive to live these principles in our daily work. The successful candidate will gain both technical skills with hydrological equipment and a further understanding of the ecological relationship between water, vegetation, and wildlife.

Grays Lake NWR, established in 1965, consists of ~22,000 acres of predominantly wetland and wet meadow habitat and is North America’s largest contiguous montane bulrush marsh.  Grays Lake provides habitat for a variety of wildlife, including our focal species of waterfowl, Canada geese, trumpeter swans, sandhill cranes, long-billed curlews, white-faced ibises, and American avocets. The Water Resources Technician would support the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in creating a hydrological model of the refuge that can help to inform what habitat and wildlife we are supporting under different water management scenarios.

Description of Duties:

• Monitor surface water levels
• Install and maintain staff gauges and electronic water level recorder
• Collect bathymetry data
• Conduct submerged aquatic vegetation surveys
• Conduct basic data management, analysis, and reporting
• Operate 4WD trucks, off-road utility vehicles, and non-motorized watercraft
• Support other seasonal projects on the refuge including camas research, invasive species monitoring and management, grazing monitoring, pollinator surveying, avian surveys, and basic infrastructure maintenance such as fencing

Qualifications:

• Must be a member of a Federally recognized Indian Tribe, Band, or Village; Alaska Native; or meet one of the following descriptions:
  • Persons who possess at least one-half degree Indian blood derived from Tribes Indigenous to the United States.
  • Descendants of Members of Federally recognized Indian Tribes, Bands or Communities who were residing on any Indian Reservation on June 1, 1934 – shown by completing information similar to the BIA Form 4432.

• United States citizen, United States national, or a lawful permanent resident alien
• Has received a high school diploma or equivalency certificate; or has not dropped out of secondary school to enroll as an AmeriCorps participant and agrees to obtain a high school diploma or its equivalent prior to using the education award.
• Agrees to provide information to establish eligibility and to complete National Service Criminal History Checks for Conservation Legacy and the host site.

 Preferred Qualifications:

• Ability to participate productively as part of a team to accomplish mutual goals and follow safe working practices;
• Enthusiastic with a strong work ethic;
• Ability to communicate effectively;
• Experience operating 4WD trucks on and off-road;
• Tolerant of conducting projects in variable weather conditions, willing and able to work outdoors in adverse weather conditions, and able to hike 2-5+ miles daily on uneven terrain;
• Knowledge and interest in botany and plant identification;
• Experience with collecting quality data;
• Bachelor’s degree in ecology, water resources, environmental science, or related field

Additional Position and Community Information:

• Grays Lake National Wildlife is a remote refuge located in the Grays Lake valley, Wayan, ID, with land in both Caribou and Bonneville Counties. The nearest amenities (groceries, gas, medical care, etc.) are about 40 minutes away in Soda Springs, ID (40 miles) or Thayne, WY (32 miles). There is a bunkhouse on-site that the member can live in for no cost, though local applicants are also welcome to consider a commuting arrangement to get to the refuge each week. The bunkhouse has basic furnishings, laundry facilities, and dorm-style kitchen and bathrooms.
• A personal vehicle will be helpful if the member chooses to live on-site but is not required for consideration.