Specific work site: Primarily Linfitt Caribou Maternity Pen, with occasional remote work.
Shift: Eight days on, six days off; mid-February to the end of August for maternity pen duties and pen opening and closure.
 Project Background:
The Nîkanêse Wah tzee Stewardship Society (the Society) has been formed by West Moberly First Nations and Saulteau First Nations (the Nations) to undertake caribou protection and recovery initiatives (the Program) within Treaty No. 8 territory in British Columbia. The Society’s objective is to restore caribou populations to levels which can sustain traditional harvesting by members of the Nations. The Caribou Maternity Pen Guardian is one position in support of the Society’s Program. The goals of this position are to care for and protect all caribou held in the pen, maintain maternity pen fence integrity, and maintain a safe, clean, and welcoming work environment.
Caribou Pen Guardians work in teams of two, on-site at the pen, and guard the caribou 24 hours/day from early March to approximately mid-August in eight-on/six-off shifts, working eight hours per day. Pen preparation and Guardian training takes place in February. This is an opportunity for personal development working as part of a larger ongoing caribou recovery program and a real opportunity to make a difference in caribou conservation and restoration of the rights of Indigenous People and the commitments made in Treaty No. 8.
Duties:
Training Workshop
- Attend a two-day training workshop February 9th – 10th in Moberly Lake
Pen Opening Maintenance
- Prepare the pen to hold caribou for the season, approximately 2-3 weeks in mid-February. Be prepared to begin this work as early as February 2
- Build/maintain feeding troughs and observation towers within the pen.
- Attach wires to t-posts to create the two external electric fences used to protect the caribou.
- Complete any snow shovelling required to maintain pen integrity.
- Prepare the site for caribou captures, including helicopter landing zones and handling areas.
Care and Protection of Caribou
- Adhere to the Nîkanêse Wah tzee Stewardship Society Pen Operations Manual at all times.
- Help transport captured caribou cows to the maternity pen (4-5 days starting March 9th).
- Pick up and transport enough caribou forage lichens and pellet feed for each eight-day work session at the maternity pen. Lichen and pellet feed are stored at the Twin Sisters Nursery, Moberly Lake.
- Conduct twice-daily feeding of the penned caribou with terrestrial lichens and/or pelleted food.
- Conduct daily observations of all caribou from the ground or an observation tower to ensure all animals are present, collect observations of individual health status, and document calving events.
- Complete daily data forms, recording all required information about the penned caribou and activity at the pen.
- Regular and timely communication with the Pen Operations Lead or their designate, both as scheduled and with regard to issues as they arise (e.g., predators, fence conditions, animal health, amount of remaining food for caribou) to avoid accidents, incidents, or other health and safety concerns to the penned caribou.
- Daily inspection of, and if necessary, adjustment of, weigh-scales and trail cameras to maintain proper function.
- Help capture newborn calves inside the pen for the purpose of ear tagging and collection of biological samples (early May to end of June).
- Implement actions as required to mitigate the impact of any predator-related issues in a 2km buffer around the pen facility. Guidance on predator conflict management will be provided.
- Collect data for side projects (e.g., antler drop dates, visual condition indices, fecal pellets, etc.)
Maintain Fence Integrity
- Conduct sweeps around the inside pen perimeter at least once a week and twice daily around the exterior perimeter or after heavy snowfall or wind events to check for:
- Geotextile panels that are sagging from broken zip ties (add additional zip ties as needed).
- Holes in the geotextile structure greater than 5cm x 5cm (patch as needed).
- Vegetation that poses a risk of puncturing the geotextile 2cm x 2cm or greater (remove).
- Pooling water on the geotextile fence (drain as needed).
- Trees that may compromise the pen structure (remove).
- Snow levels less than two metres from the top and less than two metres out from the geotextile fence need to be shoveled to prevent predators from jumping in and/or caribou from jumping out.
- Predator sign (document accordingly).
- Repairs needed on electrical fences.
Maintain the electric fences:
- Ensure the voltage is at least 6.5 kilovolts on each fence.
- Fix any shorts.
- Trim vegetation touching and grounding out electric fences (or at risk of).
- Adjust electric fence insulators as necessary with the changing snow depths to within 5-12cm of the ground.
- Adjust electric fence wire tension to maintain proper wire spacing.
- Install fencing t-posts as needed to maintain proper coverage.
- Implement actions as required to reduce human use of the maternity pen area.
Camp Duties and Safety
- Must not leave the work site during an active shift for non-emergency reasons unless there has been prior authorization with adequate replacement arrangements.
- Must attend a mandatory one-hour shift change meeting of Guardians from both shifts and the Pen Operations Lead, held at the pen site, to ensure proper exchange of information about any events at the pen during the previous shift. This meeting will be held at 11 am every Tuesday, the designated shift change day, unless otherwise specified.
- Must work an 8-hour shift every Tuesday to allow all four Pen Guardians and Pen Lead to work on larger pen work tasks together.
- Source and haul own camp groceries, fuel, propane and drinking water necessary for each 8-day shift (supply allowance provided).
- Source firewood for heat as needed.
- Follow through with timely communication of any human health or safety issues to their designated Guardian supervisor and the Pen Operations Lead, or their designate, to discuss mitigation of circumstances that may lead to accidents, incidents, or other health and safety concerns.
- Keep good care and proper maintenance of the pen and campsite, including:
- Equipment such as hand tools, chain saws, brush saws, snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, radios, solar panels and other communications equipment,
- Camp hygiene: manage trash and keep outhouse clean and stocked
- Conduct daily (minimum) contact with employer for safety checks.
- Provide bi-monthly submission of timesheets (or as specified) through the Lands departments.
- Other duties as required.
Pen Winterization
- Following the soft release of caribou, help to winterize the cabin and pen area (approximately one week of work).
- Take down, respool, and safely store all wire from both electric fences.
- Close the exits in the geotextile fence used for release (reseal the geotextile fence).
- Clean out the cabin and tidy the sea-can.
 Qualifications and Skills:
- Strong communication and interpersonal skills: comfortable working in a remote location without cell service, with the same person
- Problem solving skills with the ability to identify issues and develop effective solutions
- Able to work independently and unsupervised
- Basic construction skills, comfortable using power tools and chainsaw
- Detailed orientated: visual confirmation of each individual caribou daily, detailed data form entries, and attention to possible compromises to the electric fence and pen structure
Mandatory Qualifications and Equipment
- Physically fit: able to lift to 50lbs and walk at least 5km per day
- Experience working and living in remote bush setting
- Valid BC driver’s license, and access to a vehicle for travel to and from the pen site with ability to drive on rough terrain
- Snowmobile or UTV with skimmer for winter transport to pen
- PAL and proficiency in the use of a firearm
- Firearm for protection against wolves, bears, cougars, lynx, wolverines, and other predators
- Level 1 First Aid or higher
Compensation and Allowances
Daily wages, camp allowance, and hourly rates for work completed outside of regular pen shifts apply to this position. Additional supported costs are outlined in Addendum A.
$300 per day for up to 8–11 hours (no overtime)
$100 per day camp allowance
$28.40 per hour for work completed outside of regular pen shifts, including training, feed, pickup, capture work and pen opening and closure
For safety purposes, consumption or possession of alcohol or drugs is not permitted while at the pen site.
 How to Apply
Interested applicants should provide resume and copies of any tickets to jobs@saulteau.com
