Serve Somewhere Unexpected
ABOVE: St. Regis Canoe Area
Sure. You could spend a few months serving the planet with SCA at a world famous national park, working around tourists, instagramming thoroughly oggled geysers in your spare time. Your friends back home will check their phones and be all like, “Oh. Look at that. Dylan’s hanging out at Yellowstone or something. That’s cool.”
Apply early enough and often enough, and it’s possible that we can make that happen.
Or, you can snag one of our many, many under the radar internships; clandestine conservation service opportunities located within some of the best kept secrets of America’s national public lands system. You’ll get the same kind of Earth-saving, life-changing, resume-expanding experience that you would at the Grand Canyon or Yosemite, but when you post the photos your friends will be like, “What?? Where is that??”
So? What do you say? How do you prefer your adventures in conservation? Middle of the road? Or off the beaten path?
Check out our Top Ten Under the Radar Internships and let us know on your application. 😉
10. Better avoid this one if you’re afraid of ghosts, because according to this random website, Wyoming Territorial Prison is haunted by the spirit of Julius Greenwelch, a cigar salesman with a murderous rage problem who died behind bars in the 1890s. As a Natural Resources Management Intern at this historic site, you’ll inventory local flora and fauna, help design a brand new nature trail, lead environmental education sessions for visiting science campers, and enjoy occasional whiffs of ectoplasmic cigar smoke. APPLY.
Wyoming Territorial Prison. Totally not haunted.
9. When you hear the word “Canaveral,” you probably think space shuttle, but as an SCA Recreation Aid at Canaveral National Seashore, your job will be all about something far more earthly: the beach. You will roam the sandy coastline, monitoring surf conditions, conducting impromptu seaside environmental ed sessions, and, if necessary (though hopefully it won’t be), employing your certified CPR skills to save the occasional life. Also, odds are extremely high that you’ll run into more than a few of these guys. APPLY.
8. There are miles and miles of dirt bike and ATV trails running through Coleville National Forest’s 1.1 million acres. As an SCA Off-Highway Vehicle Recreation Intern at Coleville, you will not only maintain these trails using chainsaws and other power tools, you will roam the trails on the types of vehicles they were designed for—ATVs and dirt bikes—educating other riders and setting an example for how to ride responsibly. This is a job for people that love forests and machines that roar. APPLY.
Big Hole Battlefield. Probably Haunted. (photo via stpaulgirl on Flickr)
7. The extremely remote site of an unconscionable frontier bloodbath, Big Hole National Battlefield is hemmed in by three separate mountain ranges. As an SCA Interpretation Intern here you’ll greet visitors, give guided tours, be wowed by spectacular scenery, and jostled by frequent encounters with understandably ill-tempered ghosts. APPLY.
6. The campsites you will be charged with maintaining as an SCA Backcountry Steward Intern at the St. Regis Canoe Area of Adirondack State Park are scattered across an 18,400 acre wilderness and accessible only by canoe. If you’re still reading, then you’re probably the type of person willing camp and “work alone in remote, rugged terrain and inclement weather conditions.” In other words, you’re probably a total badass. APPLY.