**Summary:** The American Conservation Experience, a nationwide Non-Profit Conservation Corps based in Flagstaff, AZ and Salt Lake City, Utah in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Palm Springs South Coast Field Office is seeking **One Biological Team Members** to assist in various survey, inventory, and implementation projects in eastern Riverside County to support in the restoration of desert riparian habitat in the Dos Palmas Area of Critical Environmental Concern in the Palm Springs-South Coast Field Office. For more information regarding American Conservation Experience:

**Start Date:** *ASAP*

**End Date:** August 16, 2022

**Location:** Palm Springs, CA

BLM California's Palm Springs-South Coast Field Office ("PSSCFO") manages a complex variety of public lands: about 3.6 million acres. This office serves a diverse public: home to more than 22 million people and host to millions of annual visitors. The PSSCFO stretches from the Pacific Ocean to the Colorado River and from the International border with Mexico to where the mountains meet the Mojave Desert: encompassing an area larger than the state of Maryland. Renewable energy, recreation, and conservation drive PSSCFO's multiple-use and sustained-yield programming. PSSCFO's workload includes multiple utility-scale solar and wind projects, an ever-expanding number of visitors and varieties of ways to experience and enjoy America's public lands, and year-round operations to protect lives, property, and resources through robust and integrated fire and law enforcement programs. The office manages fourteen Wilderness areas, fourteen Areas of Critical Environmental Concern ("ACECs"), all or part of four National Monuments (Sand to Snow, Santa Rosa & San Jacinto Mountains, California Coastal, and Mojave Trails), and three National Scenic and Historic Trails (the world-famous Pacific Crest Trail, and the historic Juan Bautista de Anza and Old Spanish trails).

For more information about the BLM Palm Springs-South Coast Field Office, please visit

**Living Allowance:** The member should anticipate serving 40 hrs/wk and will receive a living allowance of $700/wk for food and incidentals, dispersed bi-weekly.

**Housing:** Accommodations **will not be** provided by the BLM or ACE. Members are responsible to find their own housing.

**Public Land Corps Special Hiring Authority:** ACE Members serving under this agreement may be eligible for a special hiring authority upon completion of their term of service. Qualifying Members are those who serve a "minimum of 640 hours of satisfactory service on appropriate conservation projects as defined in the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993 and at least 120 hours were served on a project utilizing the Public Lands Corps legal authority." Eligible Members must meet standard requirements of completing at least 640 hours and other requirements.

**Position Description:** ACE Members will perform botany and wildlife surveys, and actively work to restore desert riparian habitat in support of the Dos Palmas Area of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) in the PSSCFO, while applying an environmental stewardship ethic, learning practical skills, and exploring career options. ACE Members will also work on many different projects relating to wildlife, botany and conservation opportunities that abound the Field Office.

ACE Members will assist in implementing desert riparian restoration by assisting in GIS inventory, literature review, and field work to survey and collect data to monitoring restoration success within the Dos Palmas ACEC. Restoration plant species include screwbean mesquite and palo verde, as well as seeding efforts. Habitat types include marsh, creosote upland scrub, microphyll woodlands, and desert pavement. The ACE member will assist in drafting a Restoration Monitoring Report using the botany phenology data collected. The Report will be a supporting document for the Coachella Canal Lining Project Environmental Commitment Plan. The ACE member will also be responsible for submitting special status species survey data to the California Natural Diversity Database and CalFlora. Performs literature reviews of Biological Opinions and other documents to ensure botany conservation measures and reporting requirements are being met.

In addition, the ACE Members will be able to support other projects to collect water monitoring data, assist in surveying Threatened and Endangered species, collect recreation information on visitor use, record resource damage, and identify restoration opportunities. The BLM will benefit from this monitoring effort by balancing conservation needs of species and promoting responsible outdoor recreation. In addition to plants, other species of interest include but are not limited to Yuma Clapper rail, California Black rail, and a variety of migratory bird species. Data collected and reports written will be used to identify areas for future habitat restoration. Additional projects include the development of educational information to the public and assist in resource damage repair and facility operations at the ACEC.

**Project Background and Objectives:** The field work will support an ongoing restoration effort within the Dos Palmas ACEC. The inventory and monitoring of habitat actively undergoing restoration is an important component of adaptive management in the Colorado Desert. This project will support a larger goal to restore over 350 acres of desert riparian habitat and maintain/improve the overall health of the Salt Creek watershed.

**Training Provided** :The BLM will provide on the job training opportunities ex. Radio protocol, 4x4 Driving, and desert/field safety, and plant identification.

**Qualifications:** Applicants will hold (or be pursuing) a bachelor's degree in a natural resource field, and have experience with desert plant and/or wildlife identification or the ability and willingness to learn desert plant and/or wildlife identification , either in the field or through coursework. This is a demanding outdoor job that requires substantial physical fitness and mobility, participation in the field, and a tolerance for extreme weather and demanding conditions.

*Position responsibilities include but are not limited to:*

*ACE Requirements:*

* Members must be US Citizen or Permanent Resident, as required to comply with U.S. government contracts

* Ability and willingness to undergo a federal criminal background check is required

* ACE is a drug free workplace and reserves the right to drug test at any time

* Must have a valid driver's license, clean driving record with ability to provide required documentation; (Driving record checks will be completed during on-boarding process)

* Ability to drive an [Agency or ACE] vehicle is required for this position. ACE will conduct a driving record check upon on-boarding and the member must be cleared by ACE to drive

* ACE Members must verify that they are fully vaccinated for Covid-19 or have requested and been granted a medical or religious exemption to vaccination by the time they start their term.

*Required for Position:*

* Willing and able to represent ACE and the partner organization in a professional, positive, and enthusiastic manner

* Proven ability to be both self-directed/work alone, and be a positive, contributing member of a group

* Demonstrated plant and wildlife identification skills/experience

* Experience/background in botany, wildlife biology, ecology and/or natural resource management

* Must be willing and able to perform the above fieldwork and project duties as listed above with or without reasonable accommodation

* Members are expected to be HIGHLY motivated and on occasion, be able to perform assigned duties with little direct supervision

* Ability to collect GPS data to be moved into GIS and data management reports

* Strong background and interest in Public Lands and Federal Policy

* Comfortable