Wildlife Technician - Eldorado National Forest

Summary

American Conservation Experience, a nonprofit Conservation Corps, in partnership with the Eldorado National Forest, is seeking SIX Wildlife Technicians to work alongside Forest Service staff.

For more information about ACE, please visit our website.

Start Date:

March 16, 2026

Estimated End Date:
August 28, 2026

* a 24-week minimum commitment is required *

Georgetown, CA - Eldorado National Forest, Georgetown Ranger District

The Eldorado National Forest is located in the Central Sierra Nevada region within California and encompasses a total of 798,279 acres, which includes 193,027 acres of private ownership.

The Eldorado National Forest is bordered on the north by the Tahoe National Forest, on the east by the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit and the Humboldt-Toiyabe, and to the south by the Stanislaus National Forest. The Eldorado is within 3 - 4 hours of the San Francisco Bay Area and about 1 - 1 1/2 hours from Sacramento. It ranges in elevation from 1,000 feet in the foothills to more than 10,000 feet above sea level along the Sierra crest.

The mountainous topography is broken by the steep canyons of the Mokelumne, Cosumnes, American, and Rubicon rivers. Plateaus of generally moderate relief are located between these steep canyons.

The forest is also home to 297 lakes and reservoirs (including both public and private acreage), which total 11,994 surface acres. 11 large reservoirs account for 9,000 acres. The rest are mostly small, high mountain lakes. Both the rivers and lakes provide excellent fishing opportunities. The Eldorado National Forest provides diverse recreational opportunities to the public. The Forest offers every visitor the chance to enjoy nature and be outdoors.

In addition to two popular wilderness areas (Desolation Wilderness and Mokelumne Wilderness), the forest offers more than 70-day use and overnight developed recreation facilities across the forest for the individual, families and groups.

For more information on the Eldorado National Forest, please visit the USDA Forest Service website.

The Wildlife Technician will support the wildlife program by conducting California spotted owl and American goshawk surveys, with potential work with amphibian surveys.

Field work will vary from nighttime, early morning, and daytime depending on surveys.

March-June will primarily focus on night work for owl surveys. Starting in June there will be some alternating between night and day work (weekly) to start goshawk surveys.

Additional surveys may include bat acoustic monitoring, black-backed woodpecker, and bald eagles.

The member must be prepared to hike (10+ miles) steep, arduous terrain in adverse weather conditions for long periods of each day.

The member may be asked to camp overnight at field sights on occasion.

The member will be responsible for completing surveys to protocol and providing accurate and timely documentation.

This position will require close coordination with the project leader, but most duties will be performed independently, which at times will require the member to take initiative and problem solve to determine priorities.

As needed, a percentage of the technician's time may be scheduled to assist in other program areas (Wildlife, Botany, and Archeology), in order to accomplish high priority project needs and provide cross-training opportunities.

Experience in other program areas is not required but a willingness to work across programs and learn is essential.

This individual placement is meant to facilitate professional development and promotes exposure to land management agencies and networking with professionals. This could include gaining experience in different conservation fields and shadowing different work groups.

Flexibility in switching between day and night survey work (maintaining appropriate work/rest ratio); example shifts include: 7 am – 5:30 pm, 4 pm – 2:30 am, or 1 pm - 11:30 pm

• Living Allowance:
  The ACE Member is expected to contribute ~40 hours/week and will receive a living allowance of $795/week to offset the costs of food and incidental expenses, dispersed bi-weekly.
• Public Land…