American Conservation Experience: Forestry Internship Summary: American Conservation Experience, a Non-Profit Conservation Corps based in Flagstaff, AZ is partnering with the Northern Arizona Field Office of the Nature Conservancy to conduct surveys of old growth ponderosa pine trees on the Kaibab National Forest. ACE is seeking interns to dedicate four weeks working in a small group to conduct tree surveys at two locations on the Kaibab Forest throughout the month of August, followed by assignment to other ACE projects, including trails and/or fuels reduction, on Forest Service lands in September and October. This opportunity is geared towards ambitious young adults with a background in Forestry and a dedicated interest in pursuing a career with the US Forest Service or other land management agency. These volunteer internships provide a $110 per week food allowance and the opportunity to learn and train among professional mentors in the execution of a significant forest health study and subsequent restoration project.
Start date: August 2, 2010 End date: October 30, 2010. A three month commitment is required. Location: The month of August will be spent conducting old growth forest surveys in the Williams Ranger District, near the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, and on the North Kaibab Ranger District near the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. At the completion of the forest survey assignment in early September, interns will join ACE crews in either Arizona or California, subject to interns’ preference, to learn complex field skills such as trail construction, stone masonry, and fuels reduction. Both the forest survey component and the ACE crew restoration component will consist of work on Forest Service lands, exposing interns to a variety of career options with the USFS. Forest Survey Project Background and Objectives: Northern Arizona is home to the largest continuous Ponderosa Pine forest in the world. But this vast ecosystem is threatened by landscape level changes to the fire regime that, along with other contributing factors such as sheep, cattle, and non-native elk grazing, has altered the frequency and intensity of forest fires. A large volume of study indicates that until western settlement, ponderosa pine ecosystems were subject to frequent, low intensity fires carried by grasses and small shrubs. These lightning-caused fires occurred every 2 – 10 years on any given plot of land, killing most of the small seedlings, while failing to penetrate the thick, protective bark of mature ponderosas. The resulting alterations to the ecosystem favored the survival of the healthiest, strongest trees which thrived in the relative scarcity of young competitors and in the utter absence of high intensity crown fires. Western settlement brought grazing animals that reduced the fire carrying grasses, while land management agencies simultaneously sought to extinguish every fire, natural or man caused, that ignited in order to protect surrounding communities. These two fundamental changes caused vast thickets of undernourished ponderosas to crowd between stands of mature trees, essentially creating forests of unhealthy kindling with the potential to carry fire with an intensity that the previous grass matrix could not. Fueled by thick, woody, dry stands of small trees, fires now reach a height and intensity sufficient to obliterate entire stands, threatening the remaining old growth trees that were not already cut down in the era of rampant logging. With approximately 90 percent of old growth ponderosa previously logged in northern Arizona and with dense thickets of seedling threatening to carry intense crown fires to destroy many of the remaining mature trees, Northern Arizona has been at the cutting edge of ponderosa pine research and restoration activities for the past 15 years. The old growth forestry surveys to be conducted by ACE interns in August are designed to provide a better understanding of historic growth patterns and spacing of pre-settlement ponderosa pines. Interns will sample 100 acres of forest growing in basalt soils on the Williams Ranger District, and another 100 acres growing in limestone soils on the North Kaibab District. At each sampling location, all trees greater than 16” diameter at breast height will be mapped and a statistically valid number of tree increment cores will be taken to determine a localized relationship between size and age. Findings will be used to help determine the historic range in variability of the distance between clumps and groups of trees. This information will be used to provide additional guidance for future forest restoration and fuels reduction treatments. Internship Major Duties and Expectations: Navigating to sampling plots (with GPS or compass and map) Measuring DBH (Diameter at Breast Height) of trees Use of compass Use of rangefinder Coring trees with increment borer Counting tree rings Accurate recording of data Desired Knowledge and Skills: Good organizational skills Basic understanding of statistics Good communication skills Physical fitness, strong hiking ability. While the old growth survey component of the Forestry Internship occupies the first month of the three month commitment, it lays a strong theoretical foundation for the hands on project work on Forest Service lands that follows for the next two months. Whereas the survey component will be undertaken in a small group of 3 interns and one ACE supervisor, the restoration and trails projects in September and October will be as part of regular ACE crews of 10 – 12 members. Specific project locations will be determined upon completion of the survey component, but likely opportunities include reconstructing hiking trails to prevent damaging erosion for the El Dorado National Forest in the Lake Tahoe Basin, constructing or maintaining hiking trails for the Coranado National Forest near Tucson, constructing a hiking trail for the Cleveland National Forest near San Diego, or thinning small diameter trees for forest health at various locations. Qualifications: Applicants for ACE’s Nature Conservancy Forest Service Internships must be at least 21 years old, have an established interest and background in Forestry, and should be eager and willing to contribute to both survey efforts and hands on restoration efforts at a variety of locations. The position is designed to provide a theoretical construct underlying forest health practices, supplemented by two months of hands on restoration work. The internship will expose participants to a variety of Forest Service career options and is therefore ideal for graduating Forestry majors hoping to bolster their resumes and gain an inside track for future job applications with the USFS or other land management agencies. Applicants must be willing to undertake arduous physical work in all types of weather and terrain, and to participate as a team member, dedicated to both ACE’s and the USFS’s mission. Drug users, including recreational smokers of marijuana, should not consider applying, as ACE reserves the right to require drug testing and utterly abhors the presence of drug users in our program. Other Requirements: Interns must have personal medical insurance for the duration of their participation with ACE. Working Conditions: Work is labor intensive and strenuous, performed outdoors in remote high desert terrain. Interns may work and operate equipment in adverse conditions that include extended exposure to Arizona’s summer monsoon thunderstorms, sun, heat, wind, rain, loud noise, uneven terrain, mud, rattlesnakes, scorpions, and various stinging or biting insects. Benefits: • Dorm-style, shared room housing is provided on off days with up to 4 weeks of consecutive camping on project sites as a possibility. • A living allowance $110 per week is provided by ACE. • Opportunity to gain a working knowledge of forest survey technique, trail construction and maintenance, and fuels reductions. • Opportunity to pursue training and education opportunities through ACE and USFS. • Experience working with two non-profit organizations (ACE and the Nature Conservancy). • Opportunities to work with ACE volunteers from diverse backgrounds • Opportunity to become a steward of America’s public lands. • Opportunity to meet other men and women that share a common interest in preserving and protecting our natural lands. Application Deadline: July 26, 2010 Positions may be filled prior to the application deadline, so you are encouraged to apply ASAP. To Apply: Please email a resume and cover letter along with 3 professional references to Chris Baker at cba...@usaconservation.org with “Forestry Internship - ECOLOG referred” in the subject heading of your email.
