My First Week!

End of the first week. Wow, have things flown by! I am constantly reminded of the dedication Forest Service employees and volunteers have to the forest. Every project I am going to be a part of is for the betterment of the forest or the people working/playing in the forest. I am so glad that I get to be a part of such a wonderful agency. I have met so many wonderful people that make the gears of the forest service turn, that it's hard to keep track of all the names. Here is the break-down of my last week:

Monday: For the first part of the day I was in training with the Cradle of Forestry in America volunteers; a wonderful group of 12 couples dedicated to volunteering at National Forests, National Parks and State Parks. Their knowledge is inspiring; they come from every walk of life and every vocation. Some were teachers, others were doctors, some are from Texas when others are from South Carolina, and they all have gathered at the Cradle for the sheer pleasure of sharing their knowledge about the first ever school of forestry with the public. My afternoon was spent with Michelle Mitchell, my regional boss, going over the plan for the next nine months. Some of the tasks seem a little daunting but knowing that I have a great support group of staff and other interns has made the whole thing much easier to wrap my mind around.

Tuesday: Michelle and I met with the District Ranger to discuss his expectations for me. All-in-all not a bad meeting, we discussed some great opportunities I will have on the district level. There may be an chance to slide down "Sliding Rock" (an 80 foot long natural water slide) in 1900's era period clothing as a marketing tool to get visitors to travel to the Cradle, less than 3 miles away. Should be a great time.

Wednesday: I spent the first part of the morning in the corner, literally. I don’t have an office yet so I set up a table in the corner so I could plug in my laptops. One of the volunteers stood up and proclaimed to the Forest Service staff leading the training, “Who put baby in the corner?” of course this got many chuckles. In the afternoon I met with two employees of The Wilderness Skills Institute. We will be having a conference at the end of May in regards to Wilderness. I also received my Forest Service Uniform for when I’m up at the Cradle, so we all look the same. So excited!


Thursday: I was in a webinar at the SO (Supervisors Office) in Ashville all day.  I learned that I don’t know anything about how to update websites. But I met two employees at the Forest Service willing to take me under their wing and show me the ropes. Oh, and I got to see Carmen (another Intern from MobilizeGreen) on the webinar. That’s fun. I also got my vehicle, which is a cute little green Trail Blazer. (Picture below) the last hour or so of the day I spent with Alice Cohen. She will be my go-to for the next few weeks on a project called Trails Strategy. Basically, NC has 1,600 miles of trails, all of which are in need of some sort of maintenance. So the idea with this Trails Strategy is that we are meeting with the public to A) find more volunteers to help maintain the trails and B) find out which trails are getting the least amount of use and decommission them. Go figure, the Government has too much of something.

Friday: Today I was up at the SO again, working on the Trails Strategy (TS) project. We met with Lucy from Buncombe County Green Way Group, which is basically doing the same thing we are... they are just 10 steps ahead of us. Which is very very helpful.

Saturday: IS OPENING DAY!!!!!!! Can't wait to be out and about with the public. Everyone in their "Pickle Suits" (affectionately named so because when we stand together, we look like a jar of pickles)  WAHOO!

My Cute Little Green Blazer

My Cute Pickle Suit

Volunteers at the King House.