Center Hosts Conservation Land Management Intern Workshop

The training center hosted the Chicago Botanic Garden’s (CBG) Conservation Land Management Internship workshop on the week of June 29th.  Seventy-three out of 80 interns participated in the session.  The internships are sponsored by the CBG with funding provided by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), National Park Service (NPS), the USDA Forest Service (USFS), and the US National Arboretum.  The five-month internships, available to recent college graduates, provide work in plant conservation and wildlife biology. 

In 2001, in partnership with the BLM, the CBG’s Division of Plant Science and Conservation launched an internship program that trains and employs science graduates from a wide variety of fields to assist in preserving and protecting our public lands.  Since 2005, the NPS and USFS have joined in this partnership.  Between 2005 and 2008, 11 CBG interns have served in all of NPS's seven regions.

This year, 11 of the 14 NPS interns participated in the workshop.  These interns will work with NPS mentors at C&O Canal NP, Wrangell-St. Elias NP&P, Biscayne NP, Dinosaur NM, Fossil Butte NM, Great Smoky Mountains NP, Yosemite NP, Cumberland Gap NP, North Cascades NP, Cuyahoga Valley NP, Big Thicket NP, Indiana Dunes NL, Kalaupapa NHP, and Biological Resource Management Division.

To learn more about the Conservation Land Management Internship Program, please visit http://www.clminternship.org/index.htm .