Ancestral Lands –BLM Rio Puerco Field Office Woodland Technician Individual Placement

Title: Ancestral Lands – BLM Woodland Technician Individual Placement

Stipend: $550.00/week living stipend and $200.00/week housing stipend

Term: 1 year, 52-week service term. 07/10/2023-07/04/2024

Reports to: Assistant Field Manager BLM Field office

Location: 100 Sun Avenue, NE  Albuquerque, NM 87109

Status: Full Time, 1,700-hour AmeriCorps Service Term

Benefits: AmeriCorps Education Award of $6,495.00 after each successful completion of service term. Health benefit eligible, Professional Development Funds and Public Land Corps Hiring Certificate.

DEADLINE TO APPLY:

MAY 5, 2023

Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps’ Mission

Our vision is to lead our Nations back to ecological and cultural well-being by engaging underrepresented Indigenous youth and young adults in conservation service programs that reconnect participants to the land, their cultural heritage, and their traditions. We work to remove barriers to participation, education, and employment by partnering with local community organizations, agencies, and institutes of higher learning to create paid service and career training opportunities, personal and professional development, and pathways to postsecondary education and employment. 

Bureau of Land Management- Rio Puerco Field Office (RPFO) Mission

The renewable resource division in the Rio Puerco Field Office oversees the grazing (range), wildlife, hydrology, and woodland programs. Our mission is to ensure multiple use activities can occur in a sustainable fashion through disclosure and coordination with the public and other public users.

Program Overview:
The woodlands in the northern part of the field office are experiencing large die-off from environmental impacts. RPFO and local stakeholders are working to remove dead standing pinyon pine that pose a fuel hazard in the project area. This project will meet local communities’ need for fuelwood. Concern by the public and specialists is the impacts off-road driving pose to retrieval of fuelwood. The soils in the area are highly erosive and gullies/arroyos form quickly if new roads are created and used repeatedly by public users.

This intern will be responsible for communicating with the ID team specialists on the woodland program and how any changes or current uses are affecting the other programs. The need for the intern is to coordinate with outside partners and local public users on their use, need, and understanding of the woodland (fuelwood) management program. This will include field surveys and inventories to monitor and track the current use levels and areas of use. The intern will also monitor any adverse impacts to the environment and report back to supervisor and the ID Team. In addition to the needs of the woodland program, the intern will work with the other renewable programs to assist in rangeland health assessments, proper functioning condition assessments of riparian areas, and watershed health, arroyo stabilization projects.

Essential functions and responsibilities:

The intern will be responsible for producing two reports regarding the woodland management program:

1. Report one: End of season use report making observations of the current state of supply quantities, general concerns, use patterns.
2. Report two: Future recommendations for the program and administration to ensure sustainability, compliance, and minimize adverse environmental impacts.
3. The intern will participate in other renewable resource programs and assist as needed to ensure objectives are met and projects are safe and successful.

General Qualifications:

• Ability to interpret professional and scientific reports/documents, write and understand agency plans and reports based upon agency requirements, and ability to write and understand scientific reports and documents are preferred but not required.

• The successful applicant must be reliable, punctual, and self-motivated and able to work independently, both via telework or in person, with limited supervision after initial training and assignment of tasks.

• The applicant must be able to lift and/or move up to 50 pounds occasionally, up to 30 pounds frequently, and/or up to 10 pounds constantly. The applicant must be able to maneuver and operate in a mixture of office work and fieldwork. This includes frequently traversing uneven terrain and the ability to walk, balance, stoop, kneel, bend, reach, push, pull, and/or grasp in variable weather conditions and situations that may require a moderate amount of physical exertion.

• Applicant must have a visual acuity and valid license to operate motor vehicles and to determine the accuracy, neatness, and thoroughness of work assigned. Applicant must be able to receive detailed information through written and/or oral communication and convey important spoken and/or written instructions accurately and effectively

Preference will be given for applicants with a degree in forestry; or a related subject-matter field that included a total of at least 30 semester hours in any combination of biological, physical, or mathematical sciences or engineering, of which at least 24 semester hours of course work was in forestry. The curriculum must have been sufficiently diversified to include courses in each of the following areas: Management of Renewable Resources -- study of the science and art of managing renewable resources to attain desired results.

Applicants will be considered if they are currently pursuing a degree or possess a combination of work (lived experience) and education (equivalent of bachelor's degree) in related subject-matter.

User of public lands including hiking, camping, hunting/fishing, or other recreation activity. This is an asset for field navigation, understanding of diverse terrain, weather, and other hazards encountered on public lands outdoors.

Requirements:

• 21 years of age or older
• S. Citizenship or Permanent Resident Card, INS form I-551
• A passport indicating that the INS has been approved it as temporary evidence of lawful admission for permanent residence A departure record (INS 194) indication that the INS has approved it as temporary evidence of lawful admission for permanent residence.
• Valid driver’s license
• Participate in occasional offsite in person/virtual meetings, trainings, and presentations

 This program is available to all, without regard to race, color, national origin, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity or expression, political affiliation, marital or parental status, genetic information, and military service. Where a significant portion of the population eligible to be served needs services or information in a language other than English, the recipient shall take reasonable steps to provide written material of the type ordinarily available to the public in appropriate languages.

To apply, please submit an updated resume and letter of interest along with your online application.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Ancestral Lands Individual Placements Program Coordinator, Shonto Greyeyes at sgreyeyes@conservationlegacy.org