For more information, please read the following statement:
Background: This internship will take place on 80 acres, adjacent to Capitol Forest, approximately 10 miles from the TESC Campus. Our forest has been certified as sustainably managed by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Forty acres were purchased in 1995, and active management began in 2008. In 2010, mature red alders on approximately 7 acres were selectively harvested, leaving all of the mature conifers and other large deciduous trees. The area was replanted with a mix of Douglas fir and western red cedar in 2012. The remaining 30 acres have been pre-commercially thinned, or left untouched, depending of the density of red alder saplings. Some of the mature Douglas fir and western hemlock are over 100 years old. The thinned areas were under-planted with predominantly western red cedar. Approximately 8500 seedlings have been planted over the entire 40 acres. A revised forest management plan for this area was written in 2015, which refined the management objectives that were identified prior to initiating the work described above.
An adjacent 40 acres were purchased in 2017. This part is forested with two distinct stand types: young and dense red alder thickets; and older, mixed conifer/hardwood stands dominated by Douglas fir, but also including red alder, big-leaf maple, with limited western red cedar and western hemlock. A forest management plan was completed for this area in 2017, and implementation has started.
During fall of 2019, approximately 16 acres in two separate harvest units were commercially thinned. This was a “worst first” thinning, which removed stunted, damaged or over-stocked trees to improve overall forest health. An article and short video made a few years ago that summarize our goals for the property can be found at Northwest Natural Resource Group, Newsletter from October 2019 under Updates – Pointing the Trees in the Right Direction: https://www.nnrg.org/trusting-the-trees-in-butler-family-forest/
The internship sponsor is Paul Butler, Emeritus Member of the Faculty. His academic background is in geoscience, and he taught in a number of programs that focused on the forested landscapes of the Pacific Northwest. Dylan Fischer, Evergreen Forest Ecology faculty, has agreed to be the faculty sponsor for those students interested in creating an Internship Learning Contract.
Qualifications: Course work at either the undergraduate or graduate level in forest ecology or forestry. Due to the pandemic, these internships were not offered in 2020 and 2021. This is the third year that these internships have been offered, and the plan is to make them available every spring. Reliable transportation is necessary.
Internship Description: My preference is for a 4-credit internship, which requires 20 hours of work per week. You will use hand tools (provided), but will need to provide your own gloves, safety glasses and rain gear. Initially, the field supervisor and intern will have a fixed work schedule, but later in the quarter you may be asked to work independently.
The activities for these internships fall in two categories, wildlife habitat improvement and maintaining a thriving environment for newly planted seedlings. Much of the physical labor will
involve techniques and strategies for removing competing vegetation from around seedlings and protecting them from deer, mountain beaver and porcupine predation. Careful attention to methods of brush control, both native and non-native is important to improving wildlife habitat for a variety of species. Finally, interns will assist with maintaining permanent monitoring plots that were initially established by TESC programs going back to 2010. A total of 35 plots have been set up, and periodically need to be remeasured, or assessed for accuracy and to make sure that plot centers and all trees within the plots are clearly marked.
The intern will receive a $2500 stipend, paid in five installments of $500 every two weeks during the quarter. Note: the intent of this stipend is to cover 4 credits of WA resident graduate tuition, plus miscellaneous expenses you may incur. This amount is taxable and will be reported to the IRS. No money is withheld, and you will receive a Form 1099 early in 2023. Please Note: This stipend is not a salary but a federal taxable educational stipend.
Learning Objectives: The unique location of our property adjacent to Capitol Forest will afford the interns several educational opportunities.
- Interns will be able to compare industrial forestry with a small-scale operation that focuses on sustainability, including an investigation of legacy forests.
- Students will engage in other management priorities, in addition to the sustainable production of timber, e.g. enhancement of wildlife habitat, invasive species control, and soil and water conservation.
- Interns will learn to identify and complete tasks associated with getting seedlings from initial planting to merchantable timber.
- Students will collect data from the permanent monitoring plots and make sure they are clearly marked and easy to access.
Application Instructions: Submit a resume that details your academic qualifications to (butlerp@evergreen.edu), including the name and contact information of an instructor familiar with your forestry or forest ecology training, plus any relevant work experience. Applications are due Monday (Presidents Day) February 14, 2022, at 5 PM. I will do on-campus interviews (15-20 minutes) for the top 4-5 candidates on Wednesday afternoon, February 16 at a location on campus. All applicants will be notified of their status no later than February 23