Summary American Conservation Experience, a nonprofit Conservation Corps, in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management, is seeking six (6) Environmental Restoration Team Members to assist the CA BLM's Eagle Lake and Applegate Field Office staff with assessing, restoring, and repairing various wildlife habitats and recreation sites within the remote area.
For more information about ACE, please visit our website.
Start Date: Late May 2025
Estimated End Date: 26 weeks after start date
*a 26 minimum commitment is required*
Location Details/Description: Cedarville, CA
This position will be based in Cedarville, CA with the team working out of both the Applegate Field Office in Cedarville, CA, and the Eagle Lake Field Office in Susanville, CA located in the eastern region of Northern California. These offices are overseen by the BLM Northern California District Office. The BLM's Eagle Lake and Applegate Field Offices manage about 2.7 million acres of public lands in northeastern CA and northwestern NV. These offices cover a diverse landscape, encompassing the full range of the Great Basin, from rugged playas to lush aspen ridges. This position is located in a very remote, but beautiful part of northeastern California and northwestern Nevada that will often require long-distance travel to worksite locations. From Cedarville though you will have close access to many incredible recreational opportunities nearby including hot springs, hiking and backpacking the alpine lakes of the South Warner Mountain Wilderness, and expansive high desert landscapes. There are small grocery options available within walking distance of the barracks in Cedarville and multiple grocery stores available in Alturas, approximately a 30-mile drive away. A personal vehicle is not required for this position but is highly encouraged as it also makes the applicant's days off much more enjoyable. There is no public transportation available in the area.
For more information about the Eagle Lake and Applegate Field Offices, please visit the Northern California District Office website.
Position Overview: This opportunity will be focused on the ecological restoration of Sage-steppe ecosystems. The member will assist the Eagle Lake and Applegate field offices with various fieldwork throughout the field office.
Duties for this position will likely include, but are not limited to:
- Herbicide application (primarily in spring and early summer)
- The 2024 team spent 6 weeks applying herbicide
- Range inventory (walking and inventorying fences, mapping roads, assessing the condition of stock ponds and troughs, etc.)
- Riparian/wetland fence construction and maintenance
- Water development maintenance (troughs and water pipelines)
- Small-scale juniper removal with reciprocating saws (or chainsaws if desired, and following proper training and certification)
- Riparian/wetland low-tech restoration (primarily in Sept/Oct)
- Small-scale vegetation planting, and broadcast seeding (primarily in Sept/Oct)
- Simple wildlife, vegetation, and livestock monitoring
- GPS data collection with ESRI Survey 123, Field Maps, and Quick Capture
- GIS data quality control with ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS Pro
- Recreation site maintenance
- Trail work
Opportunities for cross-training and experience with BLM programs like recreation, archaeology, wildlife, botany, forestry, fuels, and others are possible during this project. These opportunities are greatest outside of the normal 4-day work week but will be made available as logistics allow during the work week. Fieldwork will be conducted largely in remote backcountry areas of the field offices with multi-day camping trips or "hitches" lasting 4 days. This will be completed with government-provided tools utilizing various travel methods including hiking, 4x4 driving, and UTV (side-by-side) driving.
This individual placement is meant to facilitate professional development and promote exposure to land management agencies and networking with professionals. This could include gaining experience in different conservation fields and shadowing different work groups. The BLM has a desire to recruit for future seasonal, career-seasonal, and permanent positions from this team across a wide range of positions as interest and funding allows. The BLM plans to assist team members with training and education on the process to best improve their chances of applying for federal jobs.
Schedule: Monday - Thursday or Tuesday - Friday equating to 4-10 hour days, for the duration of the project. Interns will be expected to camp during the duration of their workweek at or near work sites each week.
Position Benefits
Living Allowance: The ACE Member is expected to contribute ~40 hours/week and will receive a living allowance of $700.00/week to offset the costs of food and incidental expenses, dispersed bi-weekly. The living allowance is a fixed rate determined by the BLM and ACE and is not flexible.
Public Land Corps Hiring Authority: Members serving under this agreement may be eligible for a federal hiring authority upon completion of their term of service and 640 hours of service. If the duration of a PLC-eligible term is not long enough for Members to accrue 640 hours of service (~16 weeks), the total hours served after the term may be eligible to be combined with hours accrued from another PLC-eligible term to meet the 640 hours requirement. PLC projects also include specific eligibility requirements such as age and citizenship. Please see the ACE website for more information on PLC eligibility.