Public Policy Department Internships
The Wilderness Society's Public Policy Department is responsible for the public advocacy of The Wilderness Society’s agenda. Through its staff in Washington, DC, the department lobbies Congress, works with federal land management agencies, communicates with the media, and builds grassroots support for proper land preservation and management. The department’s staff includes program specialists in all aspects of federal lands policy and with knowledge and expertise about federal lands issues and how to affect public policy.
More about The Wilderness Society's internship program.
Internships are available on the following annual basis:
- Spring (Jan - May)
- Fall (Sep - Dec)
- Summer (Jun - Aug)
Volunteer or School Credit terms are considered. Part-time is a minimum of three consecutive days, 23 hours per week. Positions are open until filled.
Interns are assigned to one of the following program areas.
National Forests Internship: Intern to assist in the tracking of legislative and administrative actions affecting our National Forest System and the National Wilderness Preservation System; gather information and write responses to questions on issues such as old growth forest protection, forest roadless area protection, wildland fire issues, climate change and energy development impacts on forested ecosystems, wilderness and national forest management & planning issues.
Public Lands Internship: Intern to assist in a variety of tasks including preparation of informational materials on issues related to energy development on and protection of public lands; tracking and sometimes attending Congressional hearings; and assistance in our advocacy of public lands protection issues.
Conservation Funding Internship: Attend Congressional briefings and hearings on conservation funding. Work on the annual Green Budget; detailing important conservation funding priorities for the coming year. Update fact sheets on conservation programs and work with land management agencies to track project funding. Support the Land and Water Conservation Fund Task Force in its campaign to achieve full funding. Assist in writing blog and campaign web updates for TWS conservation priorities. Track and analyze climate change spending within the Department of the Interior and other agencies.
Energy Internship: Intern to assist with furthering Energy Program priorities through administrative and legislative channels with research and other activities to support rapid response needs and internal policy development initiatives. Intern will gather and prepare information for action alerts, lobby materials, and media on pending legislation or administrative activities. Intern will also attend Congressional hearings, participate in lobby meetings, and prepare and deliver mailings and information to congressional staff. Intern will also closely monitor administrative processes, participate in public meetings, and assist staff in preparing technical comments. Additionally, interns will participate in regular meetings of the TWS Energy Team and external collaborative as appropriate.
Climate Change Internship: Intern needed to assist the Climate Change team in tracking, influencing and promoting policies to prevent global warming pollution and to assist the adaptation of land, habitat and wildlife to survive the rising temperatures that are already unavoidable. Capping emissions of greenhouse gases, enhancing the use of forests as carbon sinks, pressing for natural resources adaptation funding, are among the policy priorities of the team. The Climate Change Intern will be directly involved in all aspects of this urgent agenda, including efforts to educate membership, influence Congress, and steer executive branch agencies toward aggressively addressing the dangers of global warming.
Wilderness Campaigns Internship: Work on wilderness campaigns across the country. Through these efforts, The Wilderness Society seeks to protect high quality landscapes through wilderness and other sensitive designations. We are currently engaged in wilderness designation efforts in every western state and several eastern states. Through these designations, we hope to protect millions of acres of ecologically sensitive lands as legally protected wilderness. Interns will participate in a variety of tasks to support these efforts, including conducting background research on potential wilderness areas that will facilitate our outreach efforts; developing and distributing information on potential wilderness areas; assisting in outreach and education within Congress on wilderness designation efforts; and assisting with local outreach and education in support of wilderness designations.
Legal Internship: The intern will conduct legal research and prepare memoranda on issues relating to ongoing or potential litigation projects, assist in the preparation of position papers, interact with coalition partners, prepare comments on proposed agency actions, and assist in legislative analysis and the drafting of testimony. The ideal applicant should have a solid understanding of environmental legal principles, public land and administrative law statutes, and excellent research skills. This position is best suited for interns interested in the intersect of public policy and environmental law. This is not a litigation internship.
If interested, please mail, fax or email a cover letter, writing sample and resume to:
Internship Coordinator
The Wilderness Society
1615 M St NW
Washington, DC 20036
fax: 202-429-3945
Louise_Tucker@tws.org
