Visitor Services: Resident RV or Local

Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge is recruiting 4 volunteers for the 2026-2027 fall-winter seasons to work at our Visitor Center, 3 days a week, for a minimum of 3 months. Fall and Winter are our peak visitor seasons, while spring sees a handful of educational tours taking place at the refuge. Volunteers will be asked to help operate the Refuge VC with our Friends group, lead school tours, and help with daily maintenance tasks.

AMENITIES:

We provide 2 camper pads with full hook-ups located at the refuge headquarters. One RV pad is covered next to our residence area, while the second RV is adjacent to our rye fields and shaded by large mesquite trees. Volunteers will also have full access to "Animal Hospital" Washers and Dryers and our Wifi. Our previous volunteers preferred using their own setup due to the slow speed. While we offer RV pads, we currently do not offer housing for our volunteers.

The immediate area is very rural, the Refuge borders the shoreline of the Salton Sea to the North and agriculture and geothermal plants to the south. Fuel, groceries, medical, and other services are found in the nearby communities of Calipatria and Westmorland (8-9 miles away) or Brawley (20 miles away) and El Centro. Brawley has a hospital and major grocery stores like Vons and Walmart, and El Centro (10 miles south of Brawley) has a mall, movie theater, and Costco among other things. Outdoor recreation options include but are not limited to Joshua Tree National Park, Santa Rosa and the San Jacinto Mountains National Monument, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, Cleveland National Forest, and San Diego all within a 2-hour drive.

Pets are welcome at the refuge, we just ask that you keep them on a leash at all times. No exceptions! The refuge and our partners drive trucks and other heavy equipment around our Refuge HQ, this is not a safe place for unattended pets.

STATION OVERVIEW: 

The position will be located at the Sonny Bono Salton Sea National Wildlife Refuge Complex headquarters.

The Refuge has 6,000 acres of desert uplands, tree rows, wetlands, open water and seasonal duck ponds, shoreline, and farmland. Our entire site totals 37,900 acres, though the majority of this land is below the Salton Sea. We offer wildlife observation, wildlife photography, environmental education, waterfowl hunting, and hiking, with two easy hiking trails and several observation decks available for visitor use.   

The Refuge's primary purpose is to protect migratory birds. It is a critical stop along the Pacific Flyway, with over 400 species of birds documented traveling through the refuge and tens of thousands of birds staying here for the winter. This place is really like no other!

Requirement:

Must provide at least one professional reference from your most recent employment, camp host and/or volunteer position.