Through a generous grant from the National Fish & Wildlife Foundation and the Telluride Foundation, two local youth from Norwood High School participated in a six-week forestry internship program this past summer. The students learned about forest restoration, wildlife biology and future career opportunities in the living classroom of the Uncompahgre Plateau. The youth spent time in the field with a variety of Forest Service professionals and participated in several hands-on projects including:
· Recreation crew: helping clean up the Lone Cone Cabin, fence building, walking trails and talking with forest users
· Fire Crew: clearing fire line and taking fuels samples
· Timber Crew: learning to use a prism to count trees, measure tree diameter and height
· Wildlife Crew: fish stocking, birding, setting up wildlife cameras, and Aberts squirrel surveys.
This internship serves as a nation-wide model in educating and engaging high school students at a truly meaningful level.
Thanks to interns Jessica Barkemeyer and Treayuan Mattan-Rankins for their hard work, mentor Michelle Barkemeyer for supervising the program, and to the Telluride Foundation for funding that made this internship possible!
Click here to see a PowerPoint with photos of Jessica and Treay's work.