8-hour days: 75%
10-hour days: 20%
>10-hour days: 5%
In the field: 60%
In the office: 40%
Screw Trap Monitoring: 14%
Spawner/Redd Surveys: 14%
Weir maintenance and operation 14%
Volunteer Management: 10%
Hatchery Work: 9%
Education & Outreach: 8%
Data Entry: 7%
DIDSON Installation/Monitoring: 4%
Biological Sample Analysis Lab Work: 4%
Field PIT Tagging: 4%
Snorkel Surveys: 4%
Commuting To/From Field Sites: 4%
Weir video footage review: 4%
The Mission of the Department of Fish and Wildlife is to manage California's diverse fish, wildlife, and plant resources, and the habitats upon which they depend, for their ecological values and for their use and enjoyment by the public. The Klamath-Trinity Program has been monitoring area salmon runs since 1978, and the Rotary Trapping Program has been in place since 2000. Both monitoring programs are the sources of data critically important to the management of Shasta River, Scott River, and Bogus Creek Chinook and Coho populations. CMs are directly involved in the monitoring of adult and juvenile salmonid population trends in the Klamath Basin with these projects.
CMs are integrated into the field team and participate in both data collection and data processing throughout the field season, adding to CDFW’s ability to collect the data necessary for long-term monitoring. On a typical workday in the fall, CMs will conduct spawning ground surveys on foot, install, maintain or remove video fish counting stations, assist with hatchery recovery and coded wire tag extraction and reading, review video footage and assist with data entry and editing. In the spring, CMs will learn to identify juvenile salmonids, sample them in rotary screw traps, calculate trap efficiency, and assist with data entry and editing.
At CDFW Yreka, Mentors work to develop and encourage CMs through regular monthly meetings, individual interactions, and service-related responsibilities. Mentors do their best to be available to CMs whenever they need to talk and or discuss ideas. Mentors have an open-door policy and make every effort to respond to CMs according to their schedules. Mentors expect CMs to reach out when they need assistance. Mentors use monthly meetings to individually confirm that CMs are happy and satisfied with their experiences in Yreka. Mentors also try to help integrate the CMs into a diverse team of fisheries technicians and make sure that CMs feel part of the team. Additionally, there are three Mentors here in Yreka and each have different personalities allowing Corpsmembers to engage with a diverse team.
Yreka CDFW has a long history (28 years) of WSP partnership and has a lot of learning opportunities to offer CMs. Located in a beautiful part of Northern California, Yreka is a small town close to a multitude of outdoor recreation opportunities. CMs at this site could experience the challenges and rewards of serving in a community where local knowledge and access to information about natural resource management is limited. CMs work with both the juvenile and adult phases of the life cycles of salmonid species and learn about the overall management cycle of salmon in the Klamath-Trinity basin. Our local watersheds are among the most productive in the basin yet offer challenging management scenarios in working with local stakeholders in an area where water is a limited and highly sought-after resource.
Ability to work long hours in very cold and very hot climates around noxious plants, and biting/stinging insects
Ability to walk or wade several miles per day over unstable terrain and through rivers
Ability to swim and stay afloat for extended periods of time
Ability to work long days in an office or lab setting while using computers and microscopes
Knowledge of basic map and navigation principles for traditional orienteering
Familiarity with basic principles of operating a 4-wheel drive vehicle. Some field sites will be accessed by uneven
non-paved forest roads