Landscape Ecology Member - AmeriCorps - 450 Hour

Position Title:  Landscape Ecology Member - AmeriCorps

Conservation Legacy Program: Stewards Individual Placements

Site Location: 1000 U.S. Highway 36, Estes Park, CO 80517. 

Application Timeline: Preference given to applicants that submit application by 3/14/2025

Terms of Service:

• Start Date: 5/20/2025
• End Date: 8/15/2025
• AmeriCorps Slot Classification: 450 Hour

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 in partnership with the National Park Service will host a Landscape Ecology Member. 

This Landscape Ecology Member is an AmeriCorps position that will assist in collecting data which will later be analyzed and ultimately relied upon to make management decisions. Without current data, program managers are unable to make informed adaptive management decisions. Members will be making vital contributions towards a multi-decade management plan, under which managers are working to return hundreds of acres of altered landscape to a more natural state.

Description of Duties:

• Collect vegetation monitoring data in a variety of ecosystems. This includes:
  • Survey about 72 designated vegetation plots over the course of the season
  • Conduct exotic plant surveys over large project areas
  • Collect accurate data in the field using electronic tablets
  • Navigate to vegetation plots over challenging terrain using GPS, map, and compass
• Assist with maintenance and documentation of habitat protection fences. This includes:
  • Ensure that fences are maintained so that elk and moose are not able to pass over, under, or through the fences and vegetation is protected from browse pressure
  • Inspect fences for damage
  • Use basic hand tools such as fencing pliers, hand saws, and hog ringers
  • Install fence patches
  • Remove small fallen trees and debris from fences
• Assist with establishing and maintaining wildlife game camera grids. This includes:
  • Navigate off-trail to camera locations over challenging terrain using GPS, map, and compass in a backcountry setting
  • Hike up to 15 miles in a day carrying a 40lb pack
  • Spend multiple days/camp overnight in both back and front country settings
  • Set up game cameras and check their battery life and memory card storage to ensure proper functioning
• Assist with tracking live, radio-collared moose to check on their overall wellbeing and collect data on moose calf recruitment. This includes:
  • Hike up to 15 miles in a day carrying a 40lb pack
  • Spend multiple days/camp overnight in both back and front country settings
  • Hike off-trail to locate collared moose
  • Approach collared moose to obtain a view of their collar, overall body condition, and any calves present
  • Comply with all operation safety protocols
• Assist with wildlife capture and anesthesia operations. This includes:
  • Listen closely and respond accordingly to direction from more advanced team members
  • Comply with all operation safety protocols
  • Accurately collect and record written data with high level of attention to detail
  • Collect biological samples
  • Assist with volunteer coordination and public outreach
• Assist with a variety of natural resource management projects on an as-needed basis, such as endangered amphibian monitoring, electrofishing, native plant restoration, human/wildlife conflict response, exotic plant control (which includes manual control and the use of herbicides usually applied with three-gallon backpack sprayers), and maintaining and harvesting materials for beaver dam analog instream structures

Qualifications:

• Learn/apply plant identification in a field setting
• Collect accurate data in the field using electronic tablets
• Navigate to vegetation plots and camera sites over challenging terrain using GPS, map, and compass
• Willing to perform herbicide application
• Hike up to 15 miles in a day carrying a 40lb pack
• Spend multiple days/camp overnight in both back and front country settings
• Work in extreme weather conditions with exposure to difficult terrain, altitude, poisonous plants, biting insects, wild animals, herbicides, and wildlife pharmaceuticals
• Work safely under potentially dangerous environmental conditions and comply with organizational safety standards at all times
• Assist with data entry, management, and quality control in an office setting
• Collaborate and communicate effectively with coworkers and supervisors
• Willing to incorporate feedback from supervisors and/or work leads to improve work
• Maintain a positive, flexible outlook when working on a variety of projects
• Ability to work outdoors at elevations above 8,000 feet for 8-10 hours a day
• Regular travel throughout Rocky Mountain National Park and to Grand Lake, Colorado is required for this position. As such, a valid driver’s license and ability to safely operate a motor vehicle are required
• United States citizen, United States national, or a lawful permanent resident alien
• Applicants must be between ages of 18-30 years old, or up to 35 for veteran, based on Public Land Corps Act of 1993 authorizing this AmeriCorps opportunity.
• 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 a National Service Criminal History Check.

 Preferred Qualifications: 

• Ability to identify Rocky Mountain plants using dichotomous keys
• Experience with handling animals and tracking wildlife

Additional Position and Community Information

• The members will live in a community of National Park Service staff, interns, and volunteers. Park-provided housing is located on the outskirts of Estes Park, Colorado, a small mountain town located about 1.5 hours from Denver, Colorado. The community is semi-rural and composed of a variety of single-family homes, apartments, and bunkhouses. There are coin-operated laundry facilities on-site as well as in Estes Park, about a 10-minute drive away. There are also 2 grocery stores nearby, one a small, family-owned business about 5 minutes away and the other a Safeway about 10 minutes away. There are additional large, chain grocery stores about 45 minutes away in Longmont, Boulder, and Loveland, Colorado. There is also a hospital in Estes Park along with an urgent care facility and multiple pharmacies and dentist offices that can provide all basic medical needs. Additionally, there is a public library and a variety of coffee shops in Estes Park that provide free WIFI. Cell service and internet are strong and reliable throughout most of Estes Park but are often spotty in the surrounding mountains.
• The members will work on a crew with three park staff who will provide daily direction and guidance in their various projects. It is likely that these park staff will also live in the same community as the members although not in the same specific housing units. The members will also work in an office alongside park staff from their workgroup as well as other workgroups in the Natural Resources Division.
• It is important for the member to have a personal vehicle as Estes Park is only walkable in the center of downtown.

Benefits: 

• Segal AmeriCorps Education Award of $1,956.35
• Living Allowance of $600 per week.
• Student Loan forbearance if Eligible (administered by MyAmeriCorps, directly)
• Interest Payments if Eligible (administered through MyAmeriCorps, directly)

How to Apply
Apply on-line at: https://stewardslegacy.org/open-positions.  In addition to your resume, please submit a one page cover letter highlighting why you are interested in this position and how your background and experience will help you succeed in this position. 

Application Timeline: Preference given to applicants who submit applications by February 28, 2025. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Position will close on March 21, 2025.

Supervisor Name and Contact Information:

• Program Contact information: Sam Rush at srush@conservationlegacy.org
• Service Site Contact information: Nick Bartush at nicholas_bartush@nps.gov

Conservation Legacy is an equal opportunity employer, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, pregnancy, age, national origin, disability status, genetic information, protected veteran status, 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 accommodations due to a disability during the application or recruiting process, please send a request to the hiring manager.  

Additional Details

Physical Requirements:

Conservation Legacy is committed to the full inclusion of all qualified individuals and will ensure that persons with disabilities are provided reasonable accommodations to perform essential functions. Some positions may require periodic overnight travel, non-traditional hours, ability to move across varied terrain, use program-specific tools and a range of technology on an infrequent or frequent basis. Exerting up to 25 pounds of force occasionally to lift, carry, push, pull, or otherwise move objects. Ability to safely drive an organizational vehicle may also be required for some positions. 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.

Time Requirements:

• This position is expected to serve 40 hours each week, but exact service schedules may vary.
• Lunch breaks will not be counted towards AmeriCorps service.
• Member may be required to participate in national, state, or local service projects or events as part of their service term.

Orientation and Training:

• Member will receive an orientation that includes training on AmeriCorps prohibited and unallowable activities.
• Large Mammal Ecology program orientation
• Vegetation survey protocol training
• Field plant identification training
• Herbicide application training
• Training on wildlife game camera establishment, operation, and maintenance
• Extensive training in wildlife tracking operations – Including several days of one-on-one or small group training to learn safe and effective telemetry operation as well as safe wildlife approach techniques.
• Extensive training in wildlife anesthesia operations – We take this extremely seriously and conduct several days’ worth of training to ensure all crew members understand their roles and responsibilities as members of this project. Extensive safety trainings and briefings are conducted before each capture operation.
• Safety trainings for vehicle operation, working under inclement environmental conditions, general field work, herbicide application, working and camping in the backcountry, fence repair, animal handling and capture operations, wildlife response, and any other pertinent topics that arise.

Evaluation and Reporting:

As an AmeriCorps member, performance will be evaluated on whether the member has completed the required number of hours, the member has satisfactorily completed assignments, and if the member has met other performance criteria that were clearly communicated at the beginning of the term of service.

Reporting requirements include, but are not limited to, bi-weekly timesheets and accomplishment tracking.