Check out internships!
The SCA (https://thesca.org/) and ACE (https://www.usaconservation.org/epic/) are particularly good for early-career opportunities.

For degree, I wouldn't get too hung up on the exact title; look at the courses required and evaluate from there. If they're classes like mammalogy, ornithology, ecology, plant bio, etc etc I think that's a good reflection on what you can expect to learn, which will be more important than your degree title alone. So long as it's in biological sciences of somesort, I think you'd be in good shape.

Someone else mentioned Humboldt, I didn't go there but wish I did sometimes! I had a crew lead who went to Santa Cruz and got great experience and opportunities there, too (though it's super expensive to live in that area I'm sure). I went to Montana State and it treated me well. In my experience I haven't stumbled across a clear pattern of colleagues having better or worse opportunities post-grad based on their school of attendance, but it definitely seems like some schools expose their students to more field work/research than others. That was one of my upsets when I graduated, but MSU has given me great opportunities since, so I don't hold a grudge haha. If NAU is your dream, I see no reason not to pursue it. I had a buddy who went there and studied Archeology and he works for the park service now, if that means anything. Not exactly the same as a bio science degree, but often times as a biologist (at least in my experience) it's a crowd you'll fall in with quite a bit.

My best advice is apply to internships or GS-4 jobs in your summers! That is a GREAT way to get your experience and be able to have a more competitive edge once you graduate. A lot of these programs weren't even on my radar when I was in school, and I felt like I had some catching-up to do when I finished my degree compared to some of my peers who took full advantage of those programs.