2024 USFS Internship
The South Santiam Watershed Council and the United States Forest Service, Sweet Home District, have finished our third year of providing a collaborative internship experience for high school students in the Linn County area!
The USFS Internship is an 8-week summer experience where interns work alongside natural resource professionals. Fields of study include anything from botany to engineering to aquatics-- this program offers a glimpse into several different types of careers. Read about our intern Zola Carlyle's time with us below!
In the summer of 2024, I was blessed with the wonderful opportunity to participate in an internship with the U.S. Forest Service. It was the most exciting and eye-opening work experience of my life. Going on hikes with botany experts like Steven Rudzitis and Jenna Leichner, learning how to identify various plants, or pulling invasive species out of our forest was both rewarding and fun—though the bites I got from a swarm of yellow jackets were quite painful!
Tagging trees for sale layouts with Cody Bentley from the Timber Department, and learning what a day looks like for Jeff Sims, head of Recreation, are just a few of the many reasons why this internship was so interesting.
Don’t let your fear of under-qualification stop you from applying. I started this summer knowing next to nothing about most of the specialties I was going to be working with. But after working in the field and gaining hands-on experience, I feel much more confident! That’s the whole point: to learn as much as you can and open as many doors as possible. If you’re unsure what your future holds, this is an amazing way to peek behind the curtain at all the possibilities. And if you’re like me, and have a rough plan, an internship like this can provide you with valuable experience in your desired area.
If you are a high school student or teacher in Linn County and are interested in learning more about the USFS Internship program, email Alex Shoulders at a.shoulders.sswc@gmail.com