garrett's blog

The best ideas are often inspired by nature. Mine came to me while I served as an SCA intern at Yosemite. Watch a video that shares my story of conservation and leadership.

SCA enabled me to understand the connection between myself and my impact on the land. And I gained the skills and confidence I needed to not only change my behaviors but help others change theirs. Please help give the same opportunity to other young people by making a gift to SCA at www.thesca.org/empower.

- Jeff Chen, '06 Yosemite

Show your support! - www.thesca.org/empower

Via US Fish and Wildlife Services.

Shelby Lin is a student at Harvard University studying Applied Mathematics with a focus in Environmental Economics. At school she is involved in EnviroEd, a volunteer-run environmental education program, and the Harvard-Radcliffe Women’s Rugby Club. As a Visitor Services Intern at the Rhode Island National Wildlife Refuge Complex, she ran field trips and summer nature classes, managed the visitor center, and had the opportunity to learn about the development of interpretive and educational programs.

Shelby hails from the north shore of Long Island, New York, and developed an appreciation for the outdoors through sports and dabbling in forestry and ornithology. She is interested in the way in which societies impact and relate to the environment, and hopes that her SCA internship will provide hands-on experience in conservation and an understanding of new perspectives on environmentalism. She plans on one day working in Latin America on the relationship between economic development and conservation. She knows that whatever her eventual career path, the experiences from her summer with SCA and USFWS will be important in developing her understanding of herself and the world around her.

Gnar crew finished up our time in the Lake Tahoe area and headed north to the Klamath National Forest, but not before having all you can eat sushi. The sushi chefs got more than they could bargain for with 6 trail crew members coming in fresh off hitch. After we nearly put the sushi place out of business we headed off on our journey. All season we had anticipated cold weather as we headed to Northern California and the cold rain on our travels proved right. We set up our camp in Carter Meadows at around 6,000 ft and went to sleep dreaming of the tread work to come. Check out all the great photos and videos here!

This post is by the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest Veteran's Fire Corps, Fall 2011

The first week began with James departing for Texas on a fire assignment. It was a great opportunity for him to work closely with a local fire crew and experience the incident command system found on fire assignments. Even though it was great for James, the trip was short lived as the crew was de-mobilized shortly after arriving in Texas.

Monday night Mike (SCA Native Plant and Fire program coordinator) arrived in Springerville for a site visit. He arrived just in time for the start of a massive juniper thinning project. The project is intended to remove juniper trees from an area used by antelope and other wildlife during the winter months. It's an important seasonal transition area of land. The juniper trees have taken over and restrict the line of sight of the antelope making it difficult for them to use the area. The crew was tasked with removing these bushy bushes. This project provided the opportunity for the crew to get lots of hands on the chainsaws which seemed to make everyone happy to gain the experience. Let's see how long they like the chainsaw when it consumes most of our work for the next couple of weeks. ...continue reading.