Wetland Pool Technician - AmeriCorps

• Job Category Individual Placement, Ameri Corps
• Employee Type Ameri Corps

Contact information

Description

Position Title: Wetland Pool Technician - Ameri Corp

Site

Location:

Seney National Wildlife Refuge (Seney NWR)

1674 Refuge Entrance Road, Seney, MI 49883

Application Timeline: Preference given to applicants who submit applications by 11/30/2026. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and will close when filled.

Terms of Service:

• Ideal
  
  Start Date:
  
  February 22, 2027
• End Date:
  August 20, 2027
• Ameri Corps Slot Classification: 900 hour , 26 weeks

Purpose:

Stewards Individual Placements (Stewards), a program of Conservation Legacy, provides individuals with Ameri Corps service and career opportunities to strengthen communities and preserve our natural resources. Participants serve with federal agencies, tribal governments, and nonprofits to provide institutional capacity, develop community relationships, and support ecosystem health. Stewards partners with the Bureau of Indian Affairs to facilitate the Water Corps Program to provide opportunities to federally enrolled Tribal Members seeking to gain experience in the water resources field.

This Water Corps position will be hosted by the Seney National Wildlife Refuge, who is seeking a Wetland Pool Technician.

The National Wildlife Refuge System is a series of lands and waters owned and managed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Wildlife conservation is at the heart of the refuge stewardship. It drives everything we do from the purpose a refuge is established , to the recreational activities offered there, to the resource management tools we use. Refuges use a wide range of land management tools based on the best science available to help fulfill the purpose of the refuge.

At Seney NWR, water levels are managed on more than 6,400-acres of refuge pools. Water levels are manipulated to provide a variety of wetland conditions for plants and animals. By raising and lowering these water levels, natural wetland and lake cycles are mimicked.

The Wetland Pool Technician is an Ameri Corps position that will work with refuge management and tribal staff to refine and implement the annual water management plan for the refuge’s 22 wetland pools with water control structures. This project will support culturally important species and the habitat they depend upon.

The goal of the project will be to use existing data and resources to make recommendations for spring 2027 water level targets that will meet habitat objectives for nesting loons, Trumpeter Swans and Osprey and then implement and monitor progress.

Description of Duties:

• The Wetland Pool Technician will use the refuge’s newly acquired water management planning tools (that incorporate bathometric and topographic data), dam and water control structure elevation data, historic observed water level data, low hazard dam policy requirements, species habitat requirements, site visits and professional knowledge and experience from staff to evaluate existing spring target levels and make recommendations for 2027 targets.
• Collaborate with refuge staff to manipulate water control structures and remove blockages and debris.
• Use hand tools such as loppers, shovels, motorized trimmers and hand saws to keep water control structures and gauges accessible.
• Replace missing water gauges and clean with brushes to ensure readable .
• Use nonmotorized boats to verify water level depths and survey aquatic vegetation.
• Monitor pool levels throughout the May through August season and record gage observations into a central database spreadsheet
• Conduct wildlife surveys and identify nesting waterbirds by sight and sound (swans, loons, osprey and eagles) within pools and enter data into a central database spreadsheet
• Use field…