2022 IIC Annual Report

OUR MISSION:

The IIC engages youth in building meaningful leadership and educational skills. These experiences provide opportunities to develop a working knowledge about natural and cultural resources and a variety of careers in public lands management while shaping the next generation of public land leaders and advocates. This valuable work creates a sustainable and effective network of land management and education partners

The IIC leverages existing partner resources to expand partner capacity, supports local economies and under-served communities, shares knowledge regionally, and opens doors for youth development and education opportunities.

LETTERFROM THEIICSTAFF

Greetings, Congratulations IfyouarereadingthisannualreportyouarepartoftheIICand2022isayearworthcelebrating Thisyearweplaced248internsinour regionandbranchedouttoNationalParksandWildlifeRefugesfromArizonatoMaine. Whenreviewingthephotos,reportsfromthefield,andtalkingto mentorsandinternstheIICislivingitsmission-togetherweareengagingyoungpeopleinourpubliclandstodevelopknowledgeandskillsthatwill servetheircareerchoiceswhileaccomplishingcriticalworkinourforests,parks,andotherwildlands. Theyare,indeed,becomingthenextgenerationof publiclandleadersandadvocateswhilefeedinganeffectivenetworkofpubliclandmanagersandeducationpartners Eachinternhasauniquestory Eachmentorhasauniquestory Iwishourannualreportcouldbe248pageslongandfeatureeachone Instead,wewilltrytocapturethehighlightsby sharingtheprogram’ssuccessesandafewphotosfromthefield-wherethere’salotofjumpingforjoy

Asaprogram,wegrewstrongerthisyearandwereabletodiversifytomeetnewneedsfrompubliclandpartners First,weareproudtobeanAccredited CorpsthroughTheCorpsNetwork. JanNethtooktheleadonsubmittingourself-report. Uponreview,wewereaskedtomakesureSUUhada whistleblowerpolicy(nowpolicy5.66)andwedugdeeperintooursuccessionplanning. Ourstrengthsincludedourriskmanagementpolicy(asking internstofollowthepracticesandprotocolsoftheiroffices)and15yearsofcollaborationwithourpartners.

Next,we’regladtocoachnewcollaborativesinOregon,Nevada,andeasternUtahwhereuniversitiesandcollegesarepartneringwiththeirpubliclandsto developinternshipprogramsbasedontheIICmodel Withinthismodel,we’relearningthepowerofmentorships IICmentorsworkwithinternsto completetheworkandprojectsthatmaketheinternshipsworthwhile Throughtheingenuityofourmentors,IICpartnersaredevelopingcohortswhere internsmeetingroupstolearnthroughintentionalcareerdevelopmentworkshopsandgivethemthetimetoconsiderhowtheirworkwillimpacttheir education,theirlives,theircareers,andtheircommunities Theseeffortsareenrichingthework-basedlearningexperiencesandhelpingourinterns makemoreconnectionswithourlands,eachotherandprofessionalsinpubliclands.

Inclosing,weneedtocelebratetheIICStaff,SUU’ssupportservices,ourSteeringCommittee,AdvisoryBoard,mentors,administrators,andespeciallyour interns Ittakesafullcommunityofcaringprofessionalstosuccessfullyhost248interns Thankyouforfifteenyearsofcollaborationandproblemsolving Togetherwearemakingadifferenceforourinterns,buildingcommunity,andcaringforourpubliclands Please,enjoythephotosandhighlights withinthisreport,andthendoyourownjumpforjoytocelebrateyourpartinmakingtheIICasuccess

IIC 15 Year Review

2007-2022: 15 Years of Connecting Students to Public Lands

In January 2007 a group of public land professionals and professors at SUU began meeting on a regular basis to establish an internship cooperative that would bring students, public land professionals, and professors together. It worked. We're still meeting and since then the IIC has been recognized nationally and regionally as a leader in youth engagement connecting regional students to their homelands

Now when we host mentor training and public lands employment day, IIC alumni are there as public land professionals ready to mentor their own interns Many of them look back and say the IIC gave them the experience they needed to bridge the gap between their education and accepting their positions.

Along with a long list of successes, we've learned a great deal along the way. Each year we ask, what worked and what can we do better? Through consistent meetings with our steering committee and advisory board we have continued to improve our operations, adapt to changing policies and rules, and respond to the needs of our partners and interns. We've developed a strong infrastructure that allows new public land professionals and offices to join We've grown our staff and continue to appreciate SUU providing the IIC with a supportive administrative home We're looking forward to another 15 years as we continue to adapt to connect youth to our public lands through work-based learning experiences, an academic tie, and strong mentoring

2022 Advisory Board Appreciative Inquiry Reflection Results

* 2007 IIC Founding Partner

Bureau of Land Management

* Arizona Strip & Grand Canyon Parashant

* Cedar City Field Office

* Color Country Field Office

Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument

Kanab Field Office

Paria River Field Offices

Richfield Field Office

National Park Service

* Bryce Canyon National Park

* Cedar Breaks National Park

Capital Reef National Park

Grand Canyon Parashant National Monument

Great Basin National Park

Lake Mead National Recreation Area

* Pipe Springs National Monument

Zion National Park

IMR Geographic Resources Division

National Park Service GIS Program

Acadia National Park

Alaska Regional Office

Bandelier National Monument

Bryce Canyon National Park

Capitol Reef National Park

Crater Lake National Park

Coronado National Memorial

Denali National Park

Florissant Fossil Beds

Fort Collins/Lakewood Technical Centers

Grand Teton National Park

Great Lakes Monitoring Network

Great Sand Dunes National Park

Glacier National Park

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

Intermountain Regional Office

Lyndon B. Johnson National Historic Park

Northeast Archeological Resources Program

Northeast Regional Office

Pacific West Regional Office

Petersburg National Battlefield

Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area

Western Arctic National Parklands

White Sands National Park

Yukon/Gates of the Arctic National Park & Preserve

Yosemite National Park

US Forest Service

* Dixie National Forest

Fishlake National Forest

Kaibab National Forest

Rocky Mountain Research Station

US Fish & Wildlife Service

Aransas National Wildlife Refuge

Attwater Prairie Chicken National Wildlife Refuge

Balcones Canyonlands National Wildlife Refuge

Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge

Buenos Aires National Wildlife Refuge

Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge

Rio Mora National Wildlife Refuge

Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge

Southwest Regional Office

Other Regional Partners

Conserve Southwest Utah

Garfield County

Kaibab Band of Paiutes

* Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah

The Corps Network

* Utah Department of Natural Resources

* Utah Department of Workforce Services

Utah Film Commission

* Utah State Parks

Foundations & Associations

Bryce Canyon Natural History Association

Great Basin National Park Foundation

National Forest Foundation

National Park Foundation

Zion Forever

Regional Schools

Utah Tech Regional High Schools

Southern Utah University Southwest Technical College

2022 Wages & Hours Overview

One of the founding guidelines at the IIC is to offer interns living wages in line with GS-scale seasonal wages. Interns earn an average of $14.24 an hour (up $0.63 from 2021) with the range being from $10.95 for high school crew members to $18.00 for interns in leadership roles. The majority of our funding goes to interns' wages, benefits, and travel.

2022 Diversity Statistics

2022 Intern Survey Results

Essential Learning Outcomes

Interns will gain an INCREASED

• Understanding of public lands.

• Knowledge and skills in elds related to the internship.

• Project Management skills.

• Critical thinking and problem solving skills.

• Opportunities to develop personal responsibilities.

• Mentoring that supports personal and professional growth.

Both mentors' & interns' feedback indicates interns are gaining valuable professional skills and gaining an appreciation for public lands. Not every intern has an amazing internship, yet we keep striving for this outcome.

Interns surveyed mid-2022 summer season felt like their internship...

Increased understanding of Public Lands.

Increased knowledge and skills.

53%

Provided mentoring that supported academic, professional, & personal development.

86%

ARE CURRENTLY EMPLOYED OR WORKING JOBS ASSOCIATED WITH PUBLIC LANDS

Interns surveyed 5 years after their last internship...

WOULD RECOMMEND AN IIC INTERNSHIP AS A TOOL TO GAIN RELEVANT CAREER EXPERIENCE

2022 Highlights 2022 Season Highlights & News

The IIC Steering Committee and Advisory Board met quarterly last year. In our meetings, we shared updates, discussed challenges and solutions, and confirmed our shared goals of developing public land professionals and stewards Below are some key highlights and updates from our 2022 meetings

• IIC Crew Coordinator Danny Strand is moving up in the world! Danny recently accepted a job with the Dixie National Forest as their new Partnership and Volunteer Coordinator. The IIC team is sad to see him go but also excited to continue working with him as a Forest Service partner.

• Kevin Koontz's role at the IIC has recently been changed to "Academic Coordinator." Kevin will be taking a larger role with the Outdoor Pathways department in coordinating educational opportunities for IIC interns, refining our certificate courses, and collaborative projects with SUU's academic departments, and will continue to assist with the IIC's public relations

• IIC is piloting a Resort Internship Cooperative with Zion Mountain Ranch and Zion Ponderosa.

• As more seasonal and permanent positions are posted in USA Jobs, the IIC will focus on helping partners recruit to these career opportunities.

• The IIC has new agreements with the Fishlake National Forest, the Kaibab National Forest, the BLM's Color Country District, Pipe Springs, Zion, Grand Canyon Parashant, Bryce Canyon, Utah State Parks, Nevada State Parks, and Rocky Mountain Research Station.

• University of Montana, Tillamook College, Northern Arizona, and Utah State University - Blanding are all interested in developing internship programs based on the IIC model Briget is coaching representatives

• We participated in monthly NPS Intermountain Region and Pacific West Region Youth Partner calls

• We participated in weekly calls with the Corps Network's Public Land Service Coalition. We're growing our network.

• In addition we traveled to Washington DC for a two-day meeting with leaders in the US Forest Service, BLM, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and the National Park Service.

As we prepare for our 2023 season, we will work with the steering committee and advisory board to guide our priorities and continue to work toward meeting our strategic goals:

Political: Establish and foster strong political relationships with national, county, and state representatives

Economic: Invest in opportunities for youth to gain hands-on experience that will allow them to become the public land leaders and advocates of tomorrow.

Social: Increase overall awareness of the IIC – what we do and what we offer, especially in the community and among employees of public land agencies. In our office, Shannon Eberhard has developed consistent social media posts and a monthly newsletter to post job news

Technological: Incorporate technology into internships and increase awareness with target audiences using social media, websites, and other digital platforms

Programming: provide quality experiential work-based learning opportunities in partnership with public land professionals.

Mentoring Matters

Southern Utah University’s Intergovernmental Internship Cooperative (IIC) program received accreditation from the Corps Center of Excellence, the national accrediting body for the Service and Conservation Corps As part of the accreditation process, SUU’s IIC program met a comprehensive and demanding set of 67 standards. Accreditation is granted to Corps that can demonstrate:

• A high level of accountability to funders and donors.

• The capacity to provide meaningful programming to Corps members

• Quality results to community and project partners

The Accreditation program is administered by an advisory committee of former Corps leaders, former federal land management agency staff, and other experts in Corps and youth programming. As an accredited Corps, SUU’s IIC program has proven its ability to provide safe, appropriate, meaningful experiences to young people who engage in service projects. The IIC program has also proven its ability to provide high-quality project outcomes to its partners – which include the U S Forest Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Land Management, the Paiute Indian Tribe of Utah, and others – with whom they collaborate to develop service opportunities for student interns

Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks launched a series of mentoring workshops for their IIC and other park interns, utilizing what they call "The Social Change Model of Leadership"

Focusing on themes of "Consciousness of Self, Congruence, Commitment, Collaboration, Common Purpose, Controversy with Civility, and Citizenship" this unique model educates and guides interns during a series of meetings, conversations, networking, and work assignments.

The IIC is also currently working on incorporating the social change model into their Park and Public Lands Stewardship Certificate Course which most interns are required to complete as part of their internship

IIC interns continue to come from broad academic backgrounds. Those attending college majored in up to 54 different areas of study, ranging from Accounting to Wildlife Biology.

Mentoring with the Social Change Model of Leadership

Parks & Public Lands Stewardship: Online Certificate Course

The IIC team has collaborated with the Department of Professional Development and Leadership in the creation of an online based certificate course to be taken by IIC Interns during their IIC Internships

Interns who complete this certificate course will:

• Receive career development, coaching, and mentorship from a public land professional.

• Complete at least 400 hours of conservation work on public lands

• Gain different perspectives on stewardship

• Set clear, achievable, and measurable professional development goals.

• Practice and develop professional communication skills

• Creatively and critically think about influences governing our public lands.

• Gain an understanding of public land missions, practices, and histories

• Network with public land professionals

• Gain hands-on experience through work-based learning.

Note: If an intern can earn credit through their home department, this is still our first choice for their academic tie

Public Land Corp Hiring Authority

Many IIC interns can earn Public Land Corps (PLC) Hiring Authority when applying for public land management positions with the BLM, Forest Service, National Park Service, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service

Public Land Corps Hiring Authority is a two-year noncompetitive status that increases an applicant’s hire-ability, and competitive rating when applying for permanent federal positions

To qualify interns must:

• Be between the ages of 16 and 30, or a veteran age 35 or younger

• Have finished (or are close to finishing) 640+ hours of public land-focused work in the last two years.

• Have accomplished their work on the conservation, restoration, construction, or rehabilitation of natural, cultural, historic, archaeological, recreational, or scenic resources

• Be a citizen or national of the United States or a lawful permanent resident alien of the United States.

2022 IIC Awards

Partner of the Year: HumanResources&PayrollTeam, SouthernUtahUniversity

For the last 15 years, Payroll & HR have been behind the scenes making our internship program function. Hiring, problem-solving, paperwork, bonuses, and late-time forms, are some examples of their daily assistance. They always go above and beyond to meet the needs of our program and go the extra mile for our interns and partners Thank you for all that you do!

Special Recognition

HaileyCastor, PaigeHarris, SydneyHansen WildernessInterns, BureauofLandManagementKanab

These three Paria Interns helped save two hikers and assisted with two life flights off the Slickrock. In a letter from one of the hikers they helped near The Wave (Coyote Buttes North) she said “they walked with me, sat with me, monitored my symptoms, provided advice (to remove my shoes and put them in the sand to cool down) and even offered me their snacks. I was scared and disappointed in myself and they were my little angels in disguise" The hiker ends the letter by saying “You save lives and I am forever grateful Unexpected things happen, even when you think you are very well prepared, and it's people like them who make a difference for us hikers who want to experience something special.

SUU Payroll Team - Angel Murnan , Lindey Matheson, Linda Font, Melissa Williamson SUU HR Team - Kevin Price, David McGuire, Lori Ann Barnson, Adam Wilcock, Shelly Merril, & Students

"Forgoingaboveandbeyondwithapositiveattitude, hardwork, andsavinglives"

Mentor of the Year: Lisa Church, Bureau of Land Management, Kanab UT

Lisa is a great friend, partner, and intern mentor Her nominator said “We can’t imagine the IIC without Lisa. She has built one of the strongest intern programs in Kanab that I have ever seen. From agreement coordination to full participation in the Steering Committee and Advisory Board to mentoring BLM mentors, and being an awesome mentor herself She cares for and knows each intern placed in Kanab. She recruits local students and ties them to the land through stewardship. She communicates, cheers on everyone, and has become a valued colleague and friend”

Alumni of the Year:

Abi Farish, Zion National Park

Abi Farish started out as an IIC intern with Cedar Breaks National Monument in 2016 and has been steadily climbing the NPS career ladder since With lots of hard work and dedication, she now has a permanent federal job as Zion's lead visual information specialist She is also stellar mentor One of her interns who also nominated her for "mentor of the year" said "she provides encouragement and valuable feedback and is always willing to answer my questions (no matter how many I have). Not only is she wicked smart, but she is also eager to share what she has learned. "

Intern of the Year: Jazmine Dunn, National Park Service, Cedar Breaks National Monument

Jazz' mentor and nominator said she, "naturally guides other interns and has been our primary trainer for interpretive operations She is a very quick learner and is very easily able to overcome challenges that might come her way. She is adaptable and capable; she has shown flexibility throughout her time at Cedar Breaks We are appreciative of her and what she has done for the team" Jazz found a way to gain valuable experience by taking on a leadership role at Cedar Breaks this summer. Jazz is planning to apply for permanent federal positions when she graduates in May 2023

worked so hard. He's consistently where he needs to be, doing what needs to get done. I don't have to worry about him and I don't feel like I have to micromanage him”

Tyler was part of a unique crew based out of Fredonia, AZ. This crew began their season with Pipe Springs National Monument where they helped with summer preparations - from working in the garden to building a wickiup When it got hot they transition to the Kaibab National Forest where they assisted cultural and natural resource staff with facility maintenance, trails, wildlife projects, and cleaning out ponds (to stay cool of course) They got a multi-agency work-based learning experience, mentoring from their crew leader and public land professionals, and best of all they explored their homelands.

the Year: niaKanabCrew

of the Year" and "Group Photo of the Crew in action. Megan's crew members tion, keeping track of 4 teenage boys. d hard, and she puts up with our would not have had the opportunity this e in a small town and this was an arn how to care for, document, and Thanks, Megan for putting up with us on to earn a position this fall as a Monument.

Rookie of the Year: Jentry Saul, Bureau of Land Management, Kanab UT

From the words of her mentor, "Although this is Jentry's first season, you wouldn't know it from how well she performs in her position Jentry exhibits a great willingness to learn and complete projects quickly and correctly. She brings great enthusiasm every day to work and has been able to tackle any task thrown at her and has been willing to cross-train with other departments to help them as needed as well You'd think she has been an intern for years already She has needed little guidance in setting work tasks and has always been a hard worker. She has assisted in keeping our day-to-day work functioning and working smoothly and she isn't afraid to think outside the box to offer other ideas and solutions to a variety of problems or concerns in land management. I know she'll go far whatever path she chooses in the future but for now, I know my department is extremely grateful for her work and willingness to step up to the plate."

2022 Digital Showcase Winners:

The IIC Digital Showcase Scholarship Competition provides IIC interns with an opportunity to showcase their internship and compete for several scholarship awards. All interns and crew members are encouraged to participate in the Digital Showcase. There are three scholarships available for the top three showcase presentations. First place receives $1,200, second place $1,000, and third place $700. A $300 scholarship is also being offered for the IIC's staff's favorite.

To view all of the IIC's digital project showcases go to: https://www suu edu/iic/videos html

1st Place: Kirstin Wilson

National Park Service, Zion UT Visual Information: Behind the Camera

2nd Place: Tara Dole

National Park Service, Cedar Breaks, UT “Facilities Maintenance: More Than Just Cleaning Bathrooms”

3rd Place: Katherine Schmidt

National Park Service, Bryce UT

Parkeology: An Archeology Interns Season in Bryce Canyon

IIC Choice: Christine Bahlinger

US Fish & Wildlife, Rio Mora, NM Mouse Girl Summer

IIC 2022 - Photo of the Year

IIC 2022 - Group Photo of the Year

IIC 2022 - Scenic Photo of the Year