Forestry Inventory Intern

You will assist a Forest Service Biologist in implementation of the Nation’s Forest Census in either Washington, Oregon, or California. This exciting project, Forest Inventory and Analysis, is mandated by Congress to report regularly on the state of the Nation’s forest resources and to track changes as they occur across the landscape. You will gain valuable experience in applied ecological inventory practices as well as insights into the operation of the Forest Service and its research activities. Primary responsibilities will involve measurement of a wide variety of ecological indicators including tree growth and mortality, forest pathogens, downed woody material structure and composition, vascular plant structure and composition, and forest disturbance and treatment histories. These measurements will be taken at a series of permanently established research plots.  Training for the work will be provided through on the job experience as opposed to formal training sessions.  Successful interns will be quick learners and come with some previous experience working in the woods.Each intern will be assigned to a single field crew led by a Forest Service crew leader; crews are 2 or 3 people in size including the intern.  Each field crew is based out of a central location and is responsible for completing work within a fixed area surrounding their base, these areas can be quite large.  Within each work area, crews complete some work out of their home base and travel for the rest of it.  Travel will include hotel stays, camping, and other lodging options.  Field crews may also be moved around the region (away from their home base) at any time depending on the needs of the program; opportunities may be available for visiting multiple states. You will have the chance to participate in extended backpacking trips and will certainly spend significant time in seldom-visited forest areas of the Pacific coast states. The inventory is conducted on all land ownerships and work is not limited to National Forest units. Ninety percent of the work will be in the field and will be mostly physically demanding; excellent physical conditioning is a must. You will have some limited interaction with private landowners and public land managers.  Interns can expect to spend significant time driving to and from field work locations in addition to time spent driving to travel locations.Interns will have ample time to explore recreation and personal development opportunities in the various locations you are assigned to. Although a Forest Service vehicle is provided for work related driving, we strongly recommend that interns bring their own vehicles to fully take advantage of opportunities during their time off.Due the great diversity in locations where we place interns, lodging options are varied. Some work locations have Forest Service bunkhouses available, other locations will require interns to find a private apartment or room to rent. We will help facilitate lodging in Forest Service facilities where available, however finding lodging will primarily be the responsibility of each intern. Interns should understand that while they may want to procure long-term lodging at a home base, they will still be expected to travel with the crew and utilize temporary lodging options while on the road. We have seen a great variety of strategies employed by interns in the past; some have decided to camp out all season long while others have rented rooms or apartments. Each situation will depend on what is available and the desire of the intern. We are providing a base weekly allowance of $345 to cover lodging and travel costs for each intern; this is in addition to the $160 standard weekly stipend. Some locations may receive a higher housing/travel allowance if the local cost of living is greater than our base.