Visitor Center Welcome Desk Volunteer

This opportunity is best suited for volunteer candidates local to the Albuquerque area. This volunteer opportunity is not eligible for on-site housing or RV pads.

The Refuge:

Valle de Oro is a flagship Urban National Wildlife Refuge and an ambitious community-led restoration project. The refuge occupies 570 acres of what once was a dairy and alfalfa farm next to the Rio Grande bosque that was intensively farmed for cattle feed for the last 100 years. 

After years of grassroots activism to preserve the farm from industrial development, in 2012 community members succeeded in having the US Fish and Wildlife Service take on the project of restoring this land to native wildlife habitat. Today the refuge is an exciting work in progress as staff, volunteers and youth conservation crews work together to build wetland and desert habitat for local wildlife. This urban refuge takes an innovative approach to balancing our habitat restoration work with community involvement- the refuge partners closely with youth employment Americorps programs to promote youth development and hiring pathways for local young people into stable careers in conservation job fields, we host meetings of organizations working to make positive change in our communities, we work with local schools to bring students to the refuge to learn about their local ecosystems, how to restore native habitat and support native species and about the history of community organizing that created Valle de Oro, we also host free events for families to connect with nature through art, naturalist observation and storytelling. 

The position:

• Welcome desk volunteers primarily staff the welcome desk in the visitor center Tuesday-Saturday. These volunteers greet visitors, answer visitor questions about the refuge, answer the phone, receive packages, help maintain and clean the visitor center and check out items such as field guides or binoculars to visitors. Welcome desk volunteers can also rove refuge trails when working in pairs. Most welcome desk volunteers sign up for a 4-hour shift once a week or once every other week. Welcome desk volunteers also have the opportunity to assist with larger refuge events and education programs. This is a great way to begin your involvement with the refuge- To start the process of becoming a welcome desk volunteer, reach out to Dakota (dakota_dominguez@fws.gov) or submit an application here on volunteer.gov.