College of Agriculture & Natural Resources Department of Forestry

Forestry undergraduate student Harrison Remelts class of 2029, shares his experience interning with the United States Forest Service in Hoonah, Alaska.

Where are you interning this summer, and what is your position/title?

This summer, I am interning with the United States Forest Service in Hoonah, Alaska, which is a remote fishing village on Chichagof Island in southeast Alaska. My position here is Recreation, Wilderness, and Timber Support Technician.

How did you find or apply for this internship?

I applied for this internship through the Student Conservation Association, or SCA, which is a large non-profit organization that offers internships and seasonal positions to college students across the U.S. I found out about the SCA through a lot of online research while actively exploring a variety of other internship opportunities.

Can you describe some of the main things you’ve been working on so far?

My primary responsibility is to the recreation department in the district office, which entails a lot of recreation site maintenance work, (brushing out hiking trails, building new sections of trail, regularly brushing out campsites, maintaining and rebuilding fire rings, building picnic tables, cabin maintenance, pit-toilet maintenance, maintenance of the gravel road system on Forest Service land, as well as some clerical work associated with recreation department programs). In addition to the recreation department, I have also had the opportunity to work alongside the Timber Sales crew. While some responsibilities overlap interdepartmentally, I have had the opportunity to go on timber cruises, hazard tree operations, forest thinning, environmental assessments and road clearing operations with timber. Apart from departmental tasks, the Forest Service has offered me the opportunity to get qualified in anything normally available to a seasonal employee. Since my internship began, I have been able to qualify to operate any of the forest services’ land-based vehicles, (work trucks, ATVs, UTVs, tractors, towing, etc.), I have been certified to operate chainsaws for the forest service, have been certified in survival camping, and have been certified to participate in airplane and boating operations as well.

What does a typical day or week look like in your role?

Last week Monday and Tuesday I had the opportunity to accompany the Timber Sales Department on a timber cruise south of Hoonah on False Island, which is a smaller island off Baranof Island in southeast Alaska. This project provided a truly unique and meaningful experience, as the only way to access the island was by a float plane, which took off from Hoonah harbor and landed off the coast of the island. After offloading our gear and cruising for most of the day, we were provided with a Forest Service cabin and campsite where we were able to fish and camp for the night. Later that same week, the Recreation Department and I boated down Port Frederick into Neka Bay west of Chichagof Island to conduct cabin and campsite maintenance at the Eight-Fathom cabin, a Forest Service cabin that is effectively only reachable via boat.

Do you have a favorite memory from your internship so far?

The exposure to wildlife has been incredible. Humpback whales routinely surface right off the coastline, brown bear sightings are a daily occurrence, bald eagles and ravens cover the beaches, beavers are building massive dams off the road system, and seals and sea otters are most always present. My favorite wildlife encounter happened when we saw two male brown bears fighting on the beach while boating back to Hoonah through Freshwater Bay. I’m very happy we were a few yards out, on a boat!

Any advice for students looking for an internship?

Apply to everything and be willing to say yes to new experiences, even without all the answers. Without applying to a number of opportunities beforehand, I never would have found the perfect match with this role. In a very concrete way, all my past applications steered me the right way, and I happily landed here. If there is an exciting prospect available, and your logistics are sorted, don’t hesitate to try new things. I was initially a tad apprehensive about spending the summer in remote Alaska, but it has been an unforgettable experience in which I have made many career connections through the Forest Service and other conservation agencies.