Wildlife Biologist for Federal Biological Assessments

WHY THIS ENGAGEMENT: AerialZeus, LLC is a Sacramento-based geospatial intelligence and environmental services firm staffing two new two-year USDA Forest Service environmental compliance task orders covering national forests across the Southern and Eastern United States. We are building a small bench of specialists we can call on repeatedly over 24 months, and whose names we can put forward on our federal quotes. ITEM: Biological Assessments, Biological Evaluations, and Endangered Species Act consultation support PROJECT: USDA Forest Service Environmental Compliance Services Period of performance September 2026 through August 2028 THE ROLE: You will author Biological Assessments (BAs) and Biological Evaluations (BEs) and support Endangered Species Act (ESA) Section 7 consultation for vegetation management, restoration, recreation, and infrastructure projects on multiple national forests. The work is primarily desk-based, drawing on government-furnished data, existing survey records, and geospatial products that AerialZeus prepares in-house. Any field survey would be separately scoped and priced at the task-order level. WHAT WE OFFER: - A steady multi-year relationship with recurring hours across two solicitations and future task orders under the same contract. - Your name carried on federal quotes as proposed key personnel. - An in-house geospatial and production team so you focus on species analysis and consultation, not formatting. - Clear scopes, defined deliverables, and prompt payment through Upwork. RESPONSIBILITIES: - Prepare Biological Assessments and Biological Evaluations with defensible effects determinations for federally listed, proposed, and Regional Forester sensitive species. - Support ESA Section 7 informal and formal consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), including consultation packages and responses to requests for additional information. - Prepare Migratory Bird Treaty Act analyses and related wildlife documentation. - Integrate habitat models, occurrence data, and survey records into NEPA documents, and review wildlife sections written by others for technical accuracy. - Track species-list updates through the Information for Planning and Consultation (IPaC) system and flag changes that affect active projects. REQUIRED QUALIFICATIONS: - Bachelor's degree or higher in wildlife biology, ecology, zoology, or a closely related field. Master's preferred. - Five (5) or more years of professional wildlife biology experience, including demonstrated sole or lead authorship of Biological Assessments or Biological Evaluations. - Direct ESA Section 7 experience with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Federal-land experience strongly preferred, USDA Forest Service ideal. - Comfortable working remotely on an on-call, task-order cadence. PREFERRED: - Species and consultation experience in the USFWS Southeast Region (Region 4), or in Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia, Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas, or Puerto Rico. - Documented experience on Southeastern species such as red-cockaded woodpecker, gopher tortoise, Indiana bat, northern long-eared bat, tricolored bat, gray bat, Southeastern freshwater mussels and fishes, and Puerto Rico endemic species (relevant to Q0162 work on El Yunque). - The Wildlife Society Certified Wildlife Biologist (CWB), or USFWS recovery or survey permits, or documented survey qualification for bats (including acoustic analysis) or red-cockaded woodpecker. DO NOT APPLY IF: - You have not personally authored a Biological Assessment or Biological Evaluation (co-author or field-support-only is not a fit for this seat). - You have no direct Section 7 consultation experience with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. - You cannot share at least one relevant document sample. HOW TO APPLY: Paste the exact phrase "BA SECTION 7 READY" as the first line of your proposal. Then provide, in order: 1. The species and states you have consulted on. 2. One or two Biological Assessments or Evaluations you led (agency, year, your role, and a link or attachment if you can share). 3. Your home state, time zone, and 24-month availability. Proposals without the phrase, or without a document you can point to, will not be reviewed.