Fish and Feathers Internship - ONSITE - Rocky Mountain National Park (Grand Lake)  

Start/End Dates: May 12, 2024 - August 2, 2024
Compensation: $600 per week + housing
Application Due: February 6, 2024

Fish and Feathers Internship Program seeks to engage ethnically and racially diverse young professionals in natural resource careers.
You must be (additional requirement):

• a U.S. citizen or legal resident

* Applicants must have a valid driver’s license and a good driving record. 

 * No personal vehicle is required for this position.

Position Description: 

Fish and Feathers is a program funded by the National Park Service (NPS) and administered by Environment for the Americas. Our goal is to provide our national park partners with talented interns who are eager to learn and to engage with local communities. The intern will focus on supporting, implementing, and leading community outreach programs that focus on fishing and birding activities. The overall goal is to increase diverse community engagement with NPS partners during the program and in years to come.

Responsibilities:

• Reach out to local communities through outreach and educational activities to increase engagement in fishing and birdwatching
• Create new materials (i.e., social media, educational games/activities, signage, etc.) to provide visitors with information about fish and birds at the NPS site
• Understand regulations regarding fishing and ethical birding and communicate this information to participants
• Establish or build upon fishing and birding programs at the NPS site
• Manage and maintain program equipment
• Meet deadlines for Environment for the Americas program requirements 

Qualifications:

• Ability to hike and conduct field operations as part of a team and/or independently in an outdoor setting.
• Experience giving presentations and ability to learn new skills and transfer the knowledge to participants.
• Interest in learning fishing regulations and bird identification for program development and implementation.
• Ability to learn methods employed in fish and wildlife management.
• Strong interpersonal, oral, listening, and written communication skills.
• Interest in learning new skills such as rafting, canoeing, and kayaking.

Major studies relevant to this position: 

Successful candidates will have a background and/or coursework in the following areas or a strong interest in the outdoors with experience fishing and/or birdwatching.

• Biology
• Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences
• Ecology
• Aquaculture
• Communications/Marketing
• Environmental Science
• Recreation
• Interpretation/Education

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About this Site:

This is an application for a F&F Intern for the West Side of the park (Colorado River District). The intern will gain "real world" and hands-on experience within the fields of Interpretation, Education, and Natural Resources, and also learn about other divisions. Having this intern hired at the park gives us the indirect benefit of completing interpretive and educational projects. 

For the past two years, Rocky Mountain National Park has been building a Junior Angler Program. We've successfully secured funding through the NPF Junior Angler Grant and Rocky Mountain Conservancy grants to build this program. RMNP hosted F&F interns in 2022 and 2023, who helped with running the Junior Angler Program. Continuing to receive a F&F intern will ensure future success of this program.

The F&F Intern in the Colorado River District will work with park staff to present weekly Junior Angler fishing programs, and assist with 2-3 fishing events during the summer where we collaborate with the National Sports Center for the Disabled to provide accessible fishing opportunities. The intern will also create "Critter Chat" programs, where they create and present 15-minute programs about fish or birds. It will give the intern the opportunity to be autonomous by creating an original program, and allows them to interact and engage with the public. The intern will also participate in developmental opportunities like working at the visitor center desk, roving, and shadowing other divisions. 

In 2023, the intern who was stationed in the CRD had nothing but great things to say about his experience. He thoroughly enjoyed his summer at RMNP and got emotional when his internship was over. Also, the 2023 F&F Intern assisted with presenting 14 Jr ranger programs, 14 Jr angler programs, and two special fishing events, with over 1000 visitors attending. It's an excellent testament to the success of our programming and how much we would appreciate having another F&F Intern in 2024. 

Interns in this program will receive 480 hours towards Public Land Corps (PLC) Hiring Authority. See below on information about:

Public Land Corps Non-Competitive Hiring Authority (PLC)
The Public Land Corps Non-Competitive Hiring Authority is a special hiring authority available to qualifying interns. The intern must be between the ages of 18 and 30 years old, inclusive, or a veteran up to age 35 and complete 640 hours of work on an appropriate conservation project to be eligible for this hiring authority. Upon successful completion of the PLC project(s), the intern is eligible for two years to be hired non-competitively into a federal seasonal, term, or permanent position. The applicant must apply to a PLC-eligible position advertised on USAJobs.gov and selected off a non-competitive certificate of eligibility. For more information, see DOI Personnel Bulletins 11-02 , 12-13, and 17-03.

EEO Statement

Environment for the Americas provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employmentand prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, disability status, genetics, protected veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or any other characteristic protected by federal, state or local laws.This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation and training.