VetsWork Intern Joesph Powell speaks to his time as an MAI intern working at the U.S. Forest Service.
By Joseph Powell
On June 17th 2024, I started my first day as a Vets Work intern with the U.S Forest Service. The internship brought me to Moose Pass, Alaska to serve in the Chugach National Forest under the Seward Ranger District. My position title is Recreation Technician but I do a variety of tasks that range from cleaning public bathrooms to installing habitat fencing.
Over the summer I have worked at many different recreational sites in the Chugach National Forest, but I spent most of my time at the Russian and Kenai rivers. These rivers are incredibly popular fishing destinations for anglers and travelers alike due to the huge swaths of Salmon species that travel to where they were born so they can reproduce the next generation in the same place. These events are called Salmon Runs and they happen all over the world where Salmon species spawn.
During my time working on these rivers, I was able to engage with the public and educate them on state and federal regulations, fish count numbers, bear safety, trail ethics, and general topics about the local recreation sites. Apart from public interactions, the small team I was part of conducted daily inspections of the infrastructure at these rivers such as boardwalks, public bathrooms, and even a river ferry to ensure they were in working order and would provide a safe and good experience to the public.
One of my main tasks this summer was to install and maintain habitat fencing along the banks of the Russian and Kenai rivers. The main point of this fence is to protect the natural habitat and vegetation along the river banks and riparian area from being destroyed by the public. Anglers specifically will travel through just about anything to reach a certain spot on the river. When just one or two people do this you don’t even notice. But considering we had close to 500,000 people travel through from Jun-Aug, that amount of traffic can destroy a habitat in very little time and leave nothing for the public to experience. So the installation and maintenance of habitat fencing was of paramount importance to the conservation of these areas and was my primary focus through the summer.
Now that the season is over and we have removed all the fencing, I am working mostly in Developmental Recreation and performing grounds maintenance. In this role I mainly travel to and clean public bathrooms all over the Chugach National Forest. But I also do a lot of maintenance, preventive maintenance, and new construction of signs, viewpoints, information kiosks, bathrooms and trails. Come winter, I will be conducting snow removal, trailhead maintenance, and assisting Cabins in deploying materials to various construction sites for the spring projects. All in all the experience has been amazing. The people I work with are incredible and motivate me to do my best. I could not have asked for a better opportunity and I’m grateful for it.
