If the lure of wild places and wide spaces calls to you, and if you’d rather stare into the embers of a camp fire than a computer monitor, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Alaska Region might just have the job(s) you’re looking for.
The Alaska Region offers a wide variety of experiences and activities for Refuge Law Enforcement Officers, including the opportunity to wing your way over some of the most challenging and magnificent terrain in North America as a Refuge Officer pilot. Better still, there are frequently opportunities available to work in locations across the state; from the rainforests of Southeast Alaska to the tundra of the far arctic.
Because of the vast spaces that their work takes them to, and Alaska’s shortage of roads, Refuge Law Enforcement Officers get around in interesting ways. In addition to small aircraft, you can expect to patrol by boat, snow-machine, ATV, horse, canoe, and kayak. You’ll be on the lookout for poachers, checking hunters and big game guides for compliance with regulations, and working with school groups, attending public meetings, and providing information to a wide range of interest groups. There’s training available to help you do your job, too; including classes in defensive tactics, firearms, boat handling, and flight training.
So if the almost 80 million wild acres of Alaska’s National Wildlife Refuges sounds better to you than an office cubicle, keep an eye on www.usajobs.opm.gov for job listings, or talk to any of the 16 Alaska Refuges (information available at: http://alaska.fws.gov/nwr/map.htm ).
