The Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands Internship

Location: Salt Lake City, Utah

Hours: 20 hours per week

Term limit: for this position is one year 

Description: The State of Utah’s Department of Natural Resources, Division of Forestry Fire and State Lands is announcing the recruitment of one student intern position to begin in the spring of 2016. This position will assist the Division in implementing a Fire Costs Evaluation Plan developed by Brigham Young University’s Master's of Public Administration program and specifically designed for the Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands.

The Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands is one of seven Divisions that comprise the State of Utah’s Department of Natural Resources. The Division is responsible for forest health, responding to wildfires and managing sovereign lands in the state. The Division responds to wildfires on state and private land ensuring that communities, watersheds, rangelands and wildlife habitats don’t suffer catastrophic losses. Foresters assist private landowners in promoting forest health and Sovereign Lands staff over see management of the beds of Utah’s navigable rivers and lakes.

Duties: Following the severe 2012 fire season, Governor Gary R. Herbert charged state land managers with the task of developing a cooperative strategy to reduce the size, intensity and frequency of catastrophic wildland fires in Utah. The Governor’s Catastrophic Wildfire Reduction Strategy was the result. Utah’s Catastrophic Wildfire Reduction Strategy aims to reduce wildland fire by supporting the three goals of the National Cohesive Strategy of; resilient landscapes, fire adapted communities, and response/suppression capacity. As this new and ambitious program is implemented, one challenge faced by the Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands will be to evaluate the success of the actions taken to reduce wildfire risk and the associated cost of wildfire suppression. Interns will assist Division staff with data collection, manipulation, and analysis. Please note that data collection may include field work involving the use of GPS. Additional duties include analyzing fiscal data, preparing reports, conducting research of peer-reviewed documents and general support of fire staff in relation to the Catastrophic Wildfire Reduction Strategy.

To Apply: Interested parties should contact Nate Barrons, Catastrophic Wildfire Reduction Strategy Coordinator:
(Cell) 801-560-8134
(Desk) 801-538-5410
 nathanbarrons@utah.gov

*At the agency’s discretion a successful intern may be eligible for full time employment with the Division following completion of the internship.