Students in Geographic Information Science and/or Watershed Science, etc.
Are you interested in a PAID internship with the USDA-FS / Cleveland National Forest – Descanso Ranger District in Alpine, CA? for Fall 2013 with 100hrs
USDA-Forest Service (FS) provides technical and financial assistance to help rural and urban citizens, including private landowners, care for forest, watersheds, and rangelands in their communities.
Student Application of Interest INFO: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/
– There is a stipend available of $12.50 per hour
NOTE: The U.S. Forest Service is home to Smokey Bear with his forest fire prevention message of “Only YOU can Prevent Wildfires.”
SDSU NewsCenter – San Diego State University (SDSU) has been designated a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI)
The USDA-FS / Southern California Consortium (SCC) is an environmental education, outreach, and recruitment program, which aims to inform and educate Hispanic students about natural resources and environmental science, and further encourage Hispanic student’s interest in higher education. Please see their inspirational article in celebration of the 2012 National Hispanic Heritage Month (from September 15 to October 15) on their nurturing environmental education outreach efforts | Latin roots help Forest Service employee grow interest in natural resources among young people: http://www.fs.fed.us/news/
Project description:
This project will be executed in collaboration with the Forest Service (FS) Alpine Ranger District, and District Ranger Donn Christiansen. The overall objective is to introduce the intern to the broad suite of FS mission priorities and monitoring techniques for Resource Management and Ecological Restoration, in support of their watershed management responsibilities. The intern will be embedded in existing FS projects and have supervised and independent opportunities for resource inventories, and asset mapping in the context of range management, biological monitoring of species of interest, and the potential for limited fire management research. The intern will be supervised to integrate field data with existing USDA FS inventory systems, and summary management opportunities and recommendations. The primary inventory tools will include GPS data collection and GIS interpretation and mapping. The FS discharges a broad suite of management missions that more recently have been focused on Resource Management and Ecological Restoration in the context of watershed management to preserve the service-oriented ecological capabilities of watershed in terms of signal and water transfer and habitat maintenance. The Descanso Ranger District has broad watershed responsibilities generally described as the Sweetwater and Upper Sweetwater watersheds, as well as the larger San Diego River Watershed. The proximity of these management areas with the urban watershed and transfer capabilities associated with San Diego make the FS mission particularly relevant in this region.
Internship Location:
The internship will be with the US Forest Service at the US Alpine Ranger Station located at 3348 Alpine Boulevard, Alpine, CA 91901, with appropriate support provided by Dr. Doug Stow, Professor of Geography, San Diego State University.
Specific Tasks:
– Understand the scope of FS responsibilities as it relates to Resource Management and Ecological Restoration in the watershed context
– Understand and apply appropriate FS techniques and tools in resource management
– Application of specific GIS and GPS tools in the Forest Service missions
– Biological monitoring of species of interest
– Performance of appropriate safety evaluations and application of safety procedures
– Data entry and interpretation according to USDA FS security requirements
– Summary reports, interpretations and presentations as assigned
– Relevant tasks as assigned
Skills and Experience:
– Specific tools and techniques that the Forest Service uses for resource conservation
– Forest Service Policies and Procedures
– Use of Forest Service GIS inventory software
– Use of FS GPS instrumentation
– Information security for data management
Watershed benefits:
FS Resource Management responsibilities impact ecological variables of vital importance to the maintenance of watersheds as conduits and habitats. Elements of range management, grazing intensity, fire damage, forest pest management all impact inputs to the watershed system that subsequently define the watershed’s efficiency as an ecological service provider. Understanding the land-based variables impacting watershed efficiency allows resource managers to make informed decisions regarding priority watershed services (e.g., habitat preservation).
Stakeholders:
– Forest Service
– Watershed Initiative Committee