Internship: U.S Army Corps of Engineers

I completed a 400-hour internship through the Northwest Youth Corps. My internship was done with the Army Corps of Engineers at the Rogue River Basin Project located at Lost Creek Lake. I was a Natural Resource Intern and worked at the McGregor Park Nature Center, as well as working in the surrounding area of Elk Creek. I worked four days a week, ten hours a day for ten weeks.

Week 1: June 19–22

My first week of the internship was spent at a training up in Cottage Grove and down at the project site learning the layout of the area. I enjoyed the day of training designated to learning how to interact and talk with members of the public. They referred to this training as verbal ju jitsu. The point was to show how to interact with the public, specifically individuals who may be escalated.

Part of the natural resource ranger’s job or any ranger’s job is to engage the public. Sometimes these interactions are in regards to violations that may be happening. Common violations they encounter are campfires during restricted seasons, taking of archeological artifacts, unsafe behavior, drinking, and several other issues. The role of the rangers of the Army Corps are not to be law enforcement. They are supposed to engage and educate the public positively, and be a resource to individuals who want to come to the different projects sites. Sites usually contract with local law enforcement for issues that are too extreme for them to address. This training was to help prepare rangers for situations that they may encounter, and to give them tools to use to help de-escalate the situation until help can arrive. The rest of the first week was spent getting to know the various sites and layout of the project area. It was a lot to take in at first, but also very exciting at the same time.

Week 2: June 26–29

In the first “official” week we help set up the Nature Center with the educational staff from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). We cleaned and got displays ready for the following week in which the nature center would open. The nature center is only open to the public from memorial weekend to Labor Day weekend. People usually stop by the nature center to learn about the area, and to get information about camping sites, hiking, boat, fire updates etc. Most visitors stop in on their way to Crater Lake National Park.

The remainder of the week was spent learning different hand tools like chainsaws, weed eaters, and hedge trimmers etc., because part of our summer was going to be spent building and maintaining hiking trails. We also were getting to know the staff of the site and their various jobs. One of the most amazing things we got to do was take a tour of the powerhouse of the dam. Tours are no longer given to the public, because of increased homeland security after 9/11.

Week 3: July 3–6

This week was the first opening week for the McGregor Park Nature Center. We received a lot of families out on the fourth of July who were celebrating the holiday with their family. It was really fun. We had activities set up for the kids, like leaf rubbing, pine cone decorating, origami, puzzles, and coloring. There are also a lot of displays set up within the nature center for people of various ages.

The Nature Center proved to be interesting because one day you can have about 50 people coming into the center and the next day you might have 2. I contribute this to the nature center not being very well advertised. Unless you are local and know about it the only other way you may find out about it is noticing the sandwich boards as you drive by on your way to Crater Lake.

Week 4: July 10–13

One neat thing about the Army Corps or specifically the natural resource staff is that they hold daily morning meetings at 7:00 am. The point of these meeting is for the team to touch base with each other. To prioritize the tasks that need to get done and to know where to place people. This is also a time to get everyone caught up on the previous day’s events. I liked these morning meetings, because it showed me a healthy work environment. These meetings just created a real team feeling, which I appreciated.

This week an emergency would happen and I would witness the full diversity of a park ranger’s job. A rafter would fall into the Rogue River and her partner was unable to locate her. I witnessed the procedure that was followed. The ranger called the powerhouse operator, who then would be the one to be in contact with police and search and rescue. We all scoured the shore line and bank and the good news is we did find the rafter. She was okay, just shaken up. It was an experience that I appreciated, because the staff immediately jumped into action and went about search and helping the women.

Week 5: July 17–20

Everyone would be choosing their projects to focus on for the rest of our internships this week. I wanted to gear mine towards the public. I was tasked with getting donations for National Public Lands day that would be taking place on September 30th. National Public Lands Day is when organizations around the country focus on cleaning up public lands. In our case, we would be cleaning up the Rogue River and its shores from McGregor Park down to Gold Hill. This cleanup is all volunteer based, so my job was to get donations to raffle off to the volunteers.

I started brainstorming what types of donations I wanted to seek out, and who would be best to contact. I wanted to get past information on what types of donations they have gotten in the past, as well as what business have previously been willing to donate for the cause. I would spend some time emailing BLM staff and staff of the Rogue River Watershed who were other organizations partnering in the clean up to get their thoughts. The rest of the week was split between working on my project and working on maintaining trails, before fire season was in full force.

Week 6: July 24–27

This week was spent working in the pollinator garden, getting training by the BLM, and getting to shadow and archeologist. The pollinator garden is sort of a frustrating task, because as fast as you pull weeds they seem to grow back twice as fast. It was nice when the BLM came and gave us a training on the anatomy of fish. The BLM conducts educational programs to schools in the fall, and were starting to work on their curriculum. They invited us to participate as they went through lesson plans and practiced their scripts. One part was showing students the anatomy of a salmon. I liked learning about it, because I have zero fish knowledge and they were all so knowledgeable.

My favorite thing this week was getting to shadow an archaeologist up at Elk Creek. The archaeologist was hired by the Army Corps to survey an area that they were going to restore back to ponds for the various frog and salamander species of the area. An archeologist was needed because the area of Elk Creek was inhabited by Native American tribes, as well as settlers in the late 1800’s and early to mid-1900. We did find some artifacts from previous settlers, but they proved to not be old enough to create a protected site. This experience was one of my favorite highlights from my internship. I felt like I was on a treasure hunt. I appreciated how all the professionals I have met are so open and willing to have interns tag along and are so willing to teach us their various focuses.

Week 7: July 31- August 3

This week I worked hard on emailing local stores about donating for National Public Lands Day. I would also go into town and go into the stores personally with fliers and explain to the staff what National Public Lands Day, and see if they were interested in participating. Even if they were not interested in donating a lot of them did let me put up fliers to create greater awareness. What I did discover is that asking stores that are chains is a much larger process than asking locally owned stores. Chains have you fill out applications and then it has to go to corporate to be okay. It is a much longer process than it is for local stores.

It was really awkward at first to go into a store and ask for donations, but I had previously wrote out a script for myself. This helped me give myself guidelines and to have an outline for myself. Some people were easier for me to talk to than others. I noticed that some individuals were a little more abrupt with me than others. This would discourage me or make me a little grumpy, but generally it was a nice conversation I had with staff.

Week 8: August 7–10

I helped the Rogue River Watershed Council conduct a fish survey this week. I had never done a fish survey before, so had no idea what to expect. I met the other group members at Elk Creek. They ran through with me the objective of the fish survey, and which fish species they were specifically looking for. My job would be to record the data for them, because I minimum fish knowledge and would have no idea what fish species I was looking at. We covered about 3 miles of creek, and recorded some threatened fish populations, as well as saw some endangered frog species. I learned a lot and enjoyed my day with them.

The rest of the week I helped the other two interns with their projects. I recorded data for Emmy’s herpetology survey that was taking place up Elk Creek. She was recording what lizards, snakes, slugs, frogs etc. that she saw, so that the Army Corps would know what species were located in the area of the pond restoration. I also helped Garrett plant willows for his fish habitat project. I enjoy doing multiple projects, so that I don’t get bored and that I get to stay out and active.

Week 9: August 14- 17

Things have slowed down here due to the smoke as well as a fire that is burning just by the lake. What I have learned from working in the nature center is how to better read people’s body language. I have learned how to tell if people want you to interact and engage with them or if they would rather just look and wonder on their own. I feel that I have become more observant as well as better able to engage with a variety of people.

I would also check in on donations for National Public Lands Day, as well as continue to try to connect with more local businesses to contribute donations. I have been sending out emails to local business. I have had mixed results in regards to responses. Either I get responses that are eager to donate or I don’t get any response. I have tried to just focus on local business who are supportive in outdoor recreation, like REI, The Ashland Outdoor Store, The Fly Shop etc. I chose them because I feel that they will be more passionate about the cause and therefore more willing to donate.

Week 10: August 21- 24

My final week was spent helping finishing up the pollinator garden. It is funny how fast weeds can grow back, without water over the summer. Emmy and I worked in the nature center, we had a family come in with their two-elementary school aged kids. The tadpole exhibit had two little frogs that were ready to be released into the pond. The kids helped us catch the tadpoles and together we walked them out to the creek to release them. The kids were excited and had a lot of fun catching and releasing them.

Due to it being my last week I got to work a little less and play more. Emmy and I went back to Elk Creek to the site we went to with the archeologist. This time we went across the creek to explore on the other side. We found some old house foundations, but otherwise just enjoyed getting to explore.

The acquaintances we (Emmy and I) had made at the fish hatchery invited us to come down and participate in “milking” and getting the eggs from the salmon. This is a process done to help the spawning of various fish species. I was excited about this experience and happy we were invited to help, but learned quickly the procreation of fish is a very brutal process, and I am not a person who can do it.

My last week was very fun. I am thankful for this opportunity. I accomplished many things that I did not believe I could do, and I made some good friends. I would recommend internships to other students, because it can teach you a lot about yourself and can help you bust your confidence and make connections.