Wildlife and Plant Member - Pacific Northwest and Pacific Southwest Research Stations

Summary

American Conservation Experience, a nonprofit Conservation Corps, in partnership with US Forest Service Pacific Northwest (PNW) and Pacific Southwest (PSW) Research Stations are seeking SIX Wildlife and Plant Members to contribute to ecological research projects related to timber production, forest fire fuel reduction, habitat restoration, and wildlife monitoring. Members will work alongside PNW and PSW research staff to coordinate with research teams across each station, collect and manage ecological data, and work within a safe and collaborative team environment.

For more information about ACE, please visit our website.

May 18, 2026

October 30, 2026

* a 24-week minimum commitment is required*

Pacific Northwest Research Station, La Pine, Oregon

Members will be based at one of the following duty stations but should expect frequent travel to multiple project locations in CA, OR, and WA throughout their term.

• Wind River Experimental Forest (Carson, WA)
• Pringle Falls Experimental Forest (La Pine, OR)
• H.J. Andrews Experimental Forest (Blue River, OR)
• Cascade Head Experimental Forest (Lincoln City, OR)
• Starkey Experimental Forest and Range (La Grande, OR)

Members will be housed at a farmhouse-style bunkhouse at the Wind River Experimental Forest, just north of the Columbia River Gorge in Carson, WA. Wind River Experimental Forest is located in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest and was established in 1932 by T.T. Munger, the first director of the Pacific Northwest Research Station. Wind River Experimental Forest is best known for its old growth Douglas-fir/western hemlock forest stands, and the canopy crane which was installed in 1995 to study them.

The bunkhouse is an approximately 15-minute drive from Carson, WA, which has typical small town amenities including grocery stores, coffee shops, and small boutiques. There is easy access to Trout Creek from the bunkhouse, and a section of the Pacific Crest Trail runs adjacent!

Members will be based at Pringle Falls Experimental Forest near La Pine, OR. Pringle Falls Experimental Forest is a natural laboratory within the Deschutes National Forest in central Oregon, dominated by ponderosa pine and mixed conifer forests in a rugged volcanic landscape. The shared bunkhouse at Pringle Falls is roughly 50 feet from the banks of the crystal-clear Deschutes River. Members may enjoy after-work activities like hiking, fishing, inner tubing, swimming, bird watching, and exceptional stargazing.

Weather at Pringle Falls ranges from 100°F temperatures in August to heavy rains and snow in October.

Members will be housed in a shared bunkhouse at the HJ Andrews Experimental Forest near Blue River, OR. The HJ Andrews was established in 1948 and has been a site of extensive research on watershed processes, forest ecology, forest-stream interactions, biological diversity, carbon cycling, and disturbance processes. It has also been part of the National Science Foundation's Long-Term Ecological Research (LTER) program since 1980.

Douglas-fir-western hemlock forest dominates at lower elevations and Pacific silver fir forest at upper elevations, with some age classes as old as 500 years. In the last few years, large-scale wildfires have burned a significant area of the HJ Andrews.

Members will be housed in a shared bunkhouse at the Cascade Head Experimental Forest near Lincoln City, OR. Cascade Head was established in 1934 to represent typical Sitka spruce-western hemlock coastal forests. The experimental forest is part of the greater Cascade Head Scenic Research Area, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, which includes prairie headlands and the Salmon River estuary, the only estuary on Forest Service lands in the conterminous United States.

The bunkhouse is approximately a 10-minute drive from Lincoln City, a coastal town which has ample grocery stores, restaurants, local shops, and entertainment options. The close proximity to the Oregon Coast provides numerous…