Local Youth Pursue Jobs in Watershed Restoration
Some problems are good to have. Like receiving too many great applicants for an employment opening. This was the situation we faced last spring when a record number of local youth applied to be summer interns at the Mid Klamath Watershed Council. The six week paid internship, which gives interns work experience in all four of MKWC’s program areas, is open to local high school students and recent high school graduates. Although we disliked having to decline any of the 18 applicants, we were glad to identify a need in our community. Young people want jobs doing restoration work.
During the interview process we heard a similar story over and over. These teenagers were considering careers in ecological restoration, and they saw it as a potential way to stay and make a living here in the Mid Klamath. Two applicants were particularly excited about the Community and Stewardship program, and two more requested work in the Plants program. At least 7 applicants were very interested in Fire and Forestry, and 13 youth indicated that they were excited about Fisheries. This year MKWC was able to employ 7 interns. Our 2023 Youth Restoration Crew consisted of Ruby Williams, Mackenzie Gonzales, Jerry Brink, and Vinn Morales from the Happy Camp area and Julia Rants, Allen Mace, and Beecher Robbi from the Orleans area. Our Youth Crew Leaders were Tai Kim and Maya Williams.
The summer internship aims to increase college and career readiness through youth involvement in a broad range of fisheries and upslope habitat restoration and monitoring projects. Throughout the 6-week program, interns learn natural resource job skills including: fish identification, manual fish passage and cold water refugia improvement strategies, native and invasive plant identification, manual invasive species removal techniques, native seed collection, fire management practices including the creation of fuel breaks, and community and youth programs experience. They network with natural resource and education professionals from MKWC, Karuk Tribe, Salmon River Restoration Council, Scott River Watershed Council, Happy Camp Community Center, US Forest Service, and other local schools and agencies.
During the 2023 season, the summer intern crew racked up some impressive numbers. They improved fish passage and cold water refugia at 9 streams opening over 40 miles of anadromous fish habitat. Nearly 14 acres at 11 different sites were treated for invasive plant species with over 15,000 invasives removed. They reduced fuels on 4.25 acres to fire-safe around homesites in Orleans and Happy Camp. The crew surveyed 9 miles of anadromous streams to monitor for juvenile and adult salmonids. Interns built 1 beaver dam analog and improved 2 others. They assisted with 5 watershed education events serving 31 local youth and organized 1 community volunteer restoration event. We admire the accomplishments of the 2023 summer interns and look forward to how they will utilize their new skills and experiences in the future.
Next year and in the years after, MKWC hopes to continue encouraging the next generation of restoration professionals. The unprecedented number of applicants we received this year indicates that more restoration jobs for youth are needed. Collaborators from Tribal and non-profit organizations in our region also reported increased interest and number of applicants for summer internships this year. There is a recognizable trend in local youth towards pursuing work in ecological restoration. Young people are seeking career paths that will involve them in the effort to heal their watershed. They want to learn about local ecology and discover ways that Traditional Ecological Knowledge can be utilized in contemporary restoration strategies.
The summer interns of today will be the field technicians, crew leaders, project coordinators, scientists, and policy makers of tomorrow. Our youth are stepping into a future increasingly dominated by the human-caused climate and ecological crisis. They are a generation that will live through an existential crossroads unprecedented in human history. The collective choices made by humanity during their lifetime will undeniably determine the fate of our planet. Young people did not create the global crisis, nor did they ask for the responsibility they now face, but regardless they are taking brave action towards a future of restored balance and ecological justice.
The youth interns completed independent projects that they then presented to MKWC staff at the end of the internship. Vinn and Jerry presented a photo slideshow of the internship, Ruby and Mackenzie organized and led a volunteer workday to clean-up trash along Indian Creek in Happy Camp, Julia wrote an article about Stream Bathymetry Surveys and their importance in planning fisheries restoration projects, and Beecher and Allen created two informative flyers, one about What Creek Restoration Looks Like and another about the importance of fish passage and brush bundle work.
Note: If you or your organization has interest or resources to create more summer jobs for local youth, please reach out to youth-programs@mkwc.org to support a collaborative effort to involve people in restoration work.
Thank you to our funders: National Forest Foundation, Klamath National Forest - Siskiyou RAC, and California State Parks Outdoor Equity Program.