I wear many hats

Hello everyone!

I have been working at the Bridger-Teton National Forest supervisor's office for 4 days now. I have spent most of my time familiarizing myself with the projects and programs that I will be helping with. I will primarily work on volunteer and community outreach with existing programs, like Bridger-Teton's Children's Forest (http://www.teton10.org) and programs with Friends of Pathways (http://www.friendsofpathways.org/).

A focus of my position will be to reach out to the Latino population and get them out to the forest. I will try to make Bridger-Teton's programs inclusive of the whole population in Jackson and surrounding areas. Also, documenting the programs through videos and pictures will be another responsibility of mine. To be honest, I'm not great with video cameras or familiar with editing software. I spent yesterday playing around with some of Bridger-Teton's equipment. Hopefully, I'll be an expert by the time I'm done with my internship.

I also will be helping with Bridger-Teton's sustainability action items. The Greater Yellow Coordinating Committee has suggested some things to make the Forest Service more sustainable (http://fedgycc.org/SOSOverview.htm). It will be my job to find a way to implement them. I still have a few people to meet with before this gets underway.

I have also sat in on some exciting meetings. I have attended a few meetings for the management of greater sage-grouse. I attended a congressional meeting with Lincoln County were we discussed a variety of topics. Today, I sat in on a meeting about elk feeding grounds. Mary, my supervisor, wants me to gain exposure to different departments in the office. I also will have the opportunity to go out into the field with the Jackson Ranger District. I get to go out for Antler Day! (http://www.fws.gov/nationalelkrefuge/Documents/05_01_12antlers.pdf) I heard people sprint to get antlers (antlers that have been shed) when the winter travel restrictions are lifted.

Aside from work responsibilities, I have been scheduled to attend fire school. I may get a chance to fight some forest fires! Forest Service staff are interesting because they serve many roles in the Forest Service and community. For example, my supervisor is the public relations officer but she is also a wildland firefighter. How cool is that?

I'll try to keep you all posted on my progress. Thanks for reading!

Cheers,
Felipe