When an organization has been around for years, its impact isn’t contained in an office, a program name, or even the organization itself.

It’s carried forward by people.

It’s in the former members who discovered careers in conservation and natural resources. The skills learned during a service term that are still being used years later. The supervisors and mentors who took the time to teach someone new.

It’s in the work itself: trails maintained, habitats restored, wildlife surveyed, visitors educated, communities supported, and public lands cared for.

And it’s in the relationships built along the way. Friends who stayed friends. Professional connections that opened new doors. Former members who eventually became coworkers, leaders, supervisors, and mentors for someone else.

MAI’s chapter may be coming to an end, but none of those things end with it.

They’re already out there, being carried forward by the people who were part of this story. 💚

#landstewardship #giffordpinchot

There are some things only another MAI member will understand.

The oddly specific trail snack preferences. The boots that have been through more than you have. The endless acronyms that eventually start sounding like completely normal words.

The weather that definitely wasn’t what the forecast promised.

The field story you’ve told approximately 47 times.
And the experience of trying to explain what you actually did during your service term to someone who wasn’t there.

But there are some bigger shared experiences, too. Learning what you’re capable of. Getting to know a place in a completely different way. Meeting people who become friends, mentors, coworkers, and part of your life long after the term ends.

We’ve started the list, but this one really belongs to the people who lived it.

MAI alumni, finish the sentence:
You know you were an MAI member if __________.
The more oddly specific, the better. 👇

#landstewardship #giffordpinchot

Mt. Adams is in our name, but MAI’s story has never belonged to just one mountain.

Over the years, members served in forests, parks, wildlife refuges, ranger districts, communities, and public lands throughout the Pacific Northwest and far beyond it.

Each place brought something different. Different landscapes. Different communities. Different challenges. Different work to be done.

For the people who served there, those locations often became more than a dot on a map. They became the backdrop to long days in the field, new skills, friendships, challenges, accomplishments, and memories that lasted well beyond the end of a service term.

There are far too many places to fit into one carousel, but these are a few that became part of MAI’s story over the years.

Alumni, where did your MAI experience take you? 🌲

#landstewardship #giffordpinchot