The following schedule is from the 72nd Annual Conference of the Southeastern Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies which was held October 21-24, 2018 in Mobile, Alabama.
AUTHORS: G. Ryan Shurette, USDA Forest Service; Mark D. Smith, Ph.D., Alabama Cooperative Extension System and Auburn University
ABSTRACT: Since 2012, the National Forests in Alabama and Auburn University have partnered to provide students opportunity for real-world employment in applied forest and wildlife management on the National Forests. This project is executed through a participating agreement, in which the Forest Service provides funds for the University to use in hiring students currently enrolled in the School of Forestry and Wildlife Sciences. Positions can be part-time or seasonal (summer) internships and the students typically work under the supervision of National Forest district wildlife biologists, performing a variety of forestry and wildlife related jobs on federal lands. Feral swine control, endangered red-cockaded woodpecker monitoring and management, timber marking, forest stand exam inventory, and wildlife opening maintenance are some of the most common job tasks, but students may also have the opportunity to work within other program areas such as silviculture, recreation, or wildland fire management. Some students have even completed the Forest Service’s wildland fire and prescribed burning certification training and have returned to work for the Forest Service as an individual contractor (outside of the agreement) on western wildfire assignments. This student work program has been a huge success and has helped several students gain meaningful employment with the Forest Service and other federal natural resource agencies, inside and outside the state of Alabama. For more information, please contact Ryan Shurette (gshurette@fs.fed.us) or Mark Smith (mds0007@auburn.edu).
