Ancestral Lands Conservations Corps - Valle de Oro Visitors Services Individual Placement

Title: Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps - Valle De Oro National Wildlife Refuge Visitors Services Individual Placement

Stipend:  $600/week (+Education Award) 

Dates:  January 2024- January 2025

Term:  52 weeks 

Reports To: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service- Valle De Oro National Wildlife Refuge (NWR)

Location:  7851 2nd St. SW, Albuquerque, NM 87105 

Status:  1700 hour AmeriCorps  Service Term 

Benefits:  AmeriCorps Education Award $6,345.00 after each successful completion, professional development opportunities, eligible for Public Land Corps Hiring Authority.

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. *Ancestral Lands serves local tribal communities in the regions we operate.  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.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Mission:

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is, "working with others, to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, and plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people."

The vision of Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge is: Valle de Oro NWR uses an innovative approach to connect people with wildlife and land by providing equitable ways to deepen personal relationships with nature. The refuge balances healthy habitat management with opportunities for education, visitor engagement, youth employment, community involvement and stewardship.

Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge's value statement is: Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge staff, interns and volunteers are committed to the following values as fundamental and foundational principles of the refuge. These values guide how we work and interact with one another, our partners, and our greater community.

• Intentional and Adaptable: Consciously working toward a shared vision or goal and continuously reflecting and sharing successes, mistakes and lessons learned.

• Innovative and Continually Learning: Taking risks to broaden the breadth and depth of work accomplished in the field of conservation to include, community engagement, art, culture, technology, social and environmental justice. Committing to continuously learn from each other, community members, partners, and stakeholders to keep approaches fresh and relevant.

• Respectful and Kind: Honoring the knowledge of our mission, staff, stakeholders, community, and surrounding cultures. Refuge staff are approachable, respectful, and kind and actively listen to the needs and concerns of others (volunteers, partners, and community members) and respond appropriately in thoughtful ways.

• Credible: Building and maintaining trust in the community and aspire to be transparent, realistic, and patient with staff, partners and community members as the refuge grows and changes.

• Accessible and Just: Providing equitable and inclusive opportunities and meaningful connection for people of diverse backgrounds, economic standings, abilities, and ages.

• Collaborative: Intentionally and collaboratively working with partners, volunteers, and community members to make decisions and take action. We believe that our combined effect is greater when we work together and have many voices at the table.

Program Overview:

Valle de Oro NWR was established in 2012 and is in the South Valley, 7 miles south of downtown Albuquerque. The refuge occupies 570-acres of traditional, ancestral lands of the southern Tiwa People, who stewarded the land throughout generations. As the current land stewards, Valle de Oro NWR is a designated Urban NWR slated to be converted from a former dairy farm into natural, native habitats of the Middle Rio Grande Valley to be an oasis – a safe place – for both wildlife and people. At this refuge, a diverse group of staff, partners, and the community are collaboratively building a refuge from the ground up, keeping in mind wildlife, people, environmental justice, inclusivity, equity, and more.

The refuge is seeking a positive and adaptive individual to be a Visitor Services Intern to serve as support for the refuge’s Visitor Services Program from January 2024 to January 2025. This individual will contribute to support the education and recreation goals for engaging the refuge’s intended audience in the Mountain View Neighborhood, the Pueblo of Isleta, and the South Valley.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities:

This ALCC Valle de Oro Visitors Services Individual Placement will complete the projects outlined below:

• Leading and supporting with the design of environmental education and interpretation programming, including special events.

  • Includes completing reports on events lead at the refuge.

• Coordinating with the Pueblo of Isleta Hiking Club.

• Posting and coordinating the refuge’s social media pages (e.g., Instagram, Facebook, etc.).

  • Includes creating content and campaigns to engage the public in refuge events and help educate the public about the refuge through social media channels.

• Coordinating the annual Valle de Oro NWR Photo Contest.

• Assembling a refuge “yearbook”.

• Assisting with volunteer coordination.

• Helping staff the Visitor Center front desk.

  • Includes staffing the welcome desk on a regular schedule, helping to organize and improve the welcome desk resource binder, being well versed in common questions that visitors may ask, and being well versed in up-to-date information about the refuge.

• Deeping the refuge’s relationship with Ancestral Lands Conservation Corps.

• Participate in drive arounds to ensure trails, signage, and other visitor amenities are safe and working properly.

• Participate in daily roving to help provide visitors with information about the refuge’s scheduled programs, trails and orientation, rules and regulations, and helping them obtain permits as needed.

• Provide support with searching published technical sources for information on designed topics and preparing digests for reference to inform management goals, objectives, strategies, and more for the Valle de Oro NWR Visitor Services Plan and other step-down plans, currently under development and/or being refined.

•  Includes the writing, review, updating, and editing of significant portions in additional to helping with the implementation of certain aspects of the plans.

• Continue to develop critical thinking, problem solving, and technical writing skills when working in a team setting or independently while applying and expanding on knowledge of environmental education and interpretation concepts, management actions, and monitoring needs though the writing, review, updating, editing, and implementing of significant sections of long-term visitor services planning for the refuge.

• • Includes providing support to build up the refuge’s Visitor Services Program.

Lead and support education, interpretation programs and events:

• Work with supervisor to Identify upcoming education and interpretation programs and events on a quarterly basis. 
• Work with supervisor to identify responsibilities for education, interpretation and events.
  on a quarterly basis.
• Complete reports on events lead at the refuge. 

Leading Valle de Oro Wildlife Refuge social media outreach:

• Work with refuge staff to review social media posting schedule and protocols.
• Revise and refine posting schedule.
• Create content and campaigns to engage the public in refuge events and help educate the public about the refuge through social media channels.

Staff visitor center Welcome Desk operations:

• Staff the welcome desk on a regular schedule.
• Help to organize and improve the welcome desk resource binder.
• Be well versed in common questions that visitors may ask.
• Be well versed in up-to-date information about the refuge.

Apply Now!

To apply, please complete the online application including an updated resume. Contact Andrea Hanks at ahanks@conservationlegacy.org with any questions.

1. One or more years of experience in visitor services, or customer services.
2. Experience in outdoor education, recreation and interpretation
3. Comfortable with public speaking and working with a diversity of audiences
4. Experience leading hiking expeditions with children and you

th
5. Experience with graphic design and social media management
6. Ability to lead projects and tasks independently and with a team

*Qualified applicants, PLC Eligibility must be 21- 30 years of age and/or a Veteran up to 35 years of age

* Driver Eligibility: 21 years of age or older