High school student outdoors internships available

Press release

HELENA — High school students who dream of spending their summer outside can apply now to have their wish granted.

Interns get to spend their days in the forest, including a backpacking trip into the Scapegoat Wilderness. Applications for the internship are due Friday, April 13, and the internship runs from June 18 to Aug. 2

The Montana Discovery Foundation and the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest are encouraging incoming high school students who love the outdoors — or are curious about the outdoor-based jobs — to apply to the 2018 Youth Forest Monitoring Program student crew.

“YFMP is a seven-week internship where high students spend their summer exploring forest ecology, discovering a variety of natural resource careers, taking part in stewardship projects,” YFMP Program Leader Liz Burke said. “It’s fun, but it’s also hard work that forest managers depend on and use as part of future management decisions.”

Students will receive one week of training alongside Forest Service scientists, learning forest ecology concepts and field protocol for monitoring streams, soils, vegetation, recreation areas, and black-backed woodpecker populations at the Montana Learning Center near Canyon Ferry Lake.

Following this initial training, students and their field instructors begin their field work by monitoring between 45-50 sites on the National Forest, which will include areas that were burned in last year’s fire season. Along with these sites, students spend several days in the Scapegoat Wilderness applying all of their monitoring and data collection techniques in the backcountry. After their fieldwork is completed, students closeout their internshipe by giving a final report and oral presentation to Forest Service professionals and the public.

Upon successful completion of the intership, students will receive a $1,000 stipend from the Montana Discovery Foundation. This is given to the students after their final presentation.

Students will need to provide their own transporation to/from the Helena Forest Service office each day, but all transporation into the forest is provided by Forest Service through the experienced YFMP field instructors.

Application packets are due by Friday, April 13, and should be sent to:

Helena-Lewis & Clark National Forest

ATTN: Liz Burke, YFMP

2880 Skyway Drive

Helena, MT 59602

Application packet should include, students need to include the following:

• a cover letter that includes: contact information, a description of what you hope to gain by this experience, and special contributions the applicant can make to this program;

• a letter of recommendation from a teacher and a school transcript.

Interviews will be scheduled with students after the application deadline. For more information, visit http://www.fs.usda.gov/helena/, Facebook at http://www.faacebook.com/HLCN or call Liz at 406-495-3713.