I wanted to go the wildlife biologist route too, but here in PA the competition for wildlife biologist positions is so tough, you have to be the best of the best to even get looked at, and that takes alot of schooling and a lot of money.
I really wanted to go the same route you guys did, i graduated from college with a degree in vertebrate zoology, and in the job hunt I would get hardly anywhere in USFWS or the game commission with that, you needed to have a much higher level of education, possibly masters, Ph.d, etc. Consider how many people in the state you are in want to go that route, and then think about in reality just how many jobs like that there are available, it is a sad state of affairs.
What I ended up doing was going to the PA Game Commission for a while doing GIS/GPS work and jumping in and helping with anything wildlife as much as I could. I made some contacts, and did my work, and all was well. Well the contract on that position came up, and I was going to be out of a job very soon, so I started looking and used game commission higher ups that I had worked with as references, and made sure I had a good resume and ended up getting the job I am in now as an environmental scientist, doing mostly work with wetlands and and GIS.
I would love to take a pay cut and try to find a more wildlife oriented job, but with college debts and general living expenses, it makes it tough. It is a big decision for you to me, you can live very nicely doing something that you enjoy doing but don' t get up daily and go " YESSSSSS I get to go to work today!!! **dance dance dance**" or you can do something you love doing and live at a lower level financially.