After more than two weeks of being idled by the government shutdown, SCA members on federal lands were more than ready to get back to the conservation work they signed up for when national parks, forests and other sites reopened. The shutdown caused many critical and time sensitive projects to be put on hold but our members are already tackling these problems head-on.
It was great to see that many of our federal partners were also thrilled to have SCA back on the job. In the days right after the closure, SCA received some great reminders of the importance of our members’ work in preserving our natural and historic landmarks.
“I just want to say thank you for all the Student Conservation Association does for America’s National Parks,” emailed a top NPS official. “We continue to value what SCA does to support increasingly diverse stewards of national parks and public lands. We are glad SCA is back on all of our parks doing good work.”
Elsewhere, the Department of the Interior issued its delayed Fall edition of NewsWave, with SCA’s Sandy recovery project as the lead story in this coastal newsletter. SCA’s Sandy Recovery project is an on-going public/ private partnership dedicated to restoring damaged federal and state lands.
And The Olmsted Center for Landscape Preservation in Boston wasted no time in announcing the hiring of five-time SCA intern Alexandra von Bieberstein as an historical landscape architect. Alex is a product of SCA’s partnership with the National Park Service and the American Society of Landscape Architects, and her professional advancement is a perfect illustration of how the SCA continuum works. Alex has conducted archival research, created cultural landscape inventories and drafted vista management plans from Yosemite to Acadia, and now she’ll provide more of the same throughout the Northeast as an employee of the National Park Service.
“Hats off to SCA for its role in the development of this promising young professional,” stated one Olmstead official.
As thrilled as SCA is to have our federal lands open again, we are even more thrilled to know that our federal partners missed us as well. Now, let’s get back to work!