Position Summary: Oregon Desert Land Trust (ODLT) is seeking two summer interns to assist with ranch and preserve management at our Trout Creek Ranch property in Fields, Oregon – a small, very rural community in southeast Oregon. Interns will support land health monitoring, conservation/restoration projects, and day-to-day caretaking of the property. Responsibilities include facilities maintenance, fence repair and removal, invasive weed surveys and control, bird surveys in wet meadow habitats, and other duties related to natural resource conservation. Interns will also help host guests, partners, volunteers, and serve as representatives of ODLT to visitors, neighbors, and community members.
Successful candidates will be eager to learn basic plant and bird identification skills, comfortable conducting remote fieldwork, and able to use phone-based monitoring and navigation applications. A strong interest in land conservation and a commitment to working in rural communities are essential.
About Oregon Desert Land Trust and Trout Creek Ranch: ODLT works with landowners, Tribes, agency land managers, and other partners to conserve and restore ecologically significant wild and working lands in southeastern Oregon. ODLT has embarked on one of Oregon’s most significant conservation projects by purchasing the 16,645-acre Trout Creek Ranch. Trout Creek Ranch helps connect more than a million acres of designated wildlife habitat and includes livestock grazing permits on nearly 500,000 acres of public land. The property spans from the Pueblo Mountains to the Trout Creek Mountains, with elevations ranging from 4,100’ in the Pueblo Valley headquarters meadows to over 8,600’ in the high aspen woodlands of the surrounding mountains. The area includes abundant natural resources, including thousands of acres of core sage grouse habitat, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, and California bighorn sheep. The ranch’s flood-irrigated wet meadows support numerous waterbird species, including priority species like the greater sandhill crane and white-faced ibis. Our stewardship programs at Trout Creek Ranch support regional conservation objectives, test innovative management techniques, and build collaboration with neighboring ranchers, Tribes, public land managers and conservation partners such as The Nature Conservancy.
How to Apply:
Please send a cover letter, resume, and at least two references to
info@oregondesertlandtrust.org with “Internship Application” in the subject line by March 1, 2026.
For more information about our work, please visit our website at www.oregondesertlandtrust.org. In particular, ODLT’s Desert Voices and Sharing Common Ground series demonstrate our focus on using the lands we own to build partnerships with landowners, Tribes, land managers, and conservation organizations to address the challenges and opportunities facing Oregon’s high desert. Our feature on last year’s internship may also provide insight into this seasonal opportunity.
ODLT is committed to building a diverse and welcoming organization by supporting employee growth, well-being, and inclusion. A diverse staff of qualified, highly skilled, and creative individuals is necessary to achieve our vision and mission. We understand that many qualified individuals have historically faced barriers to entering the conservation field and we are committed to helping change this paradigm. We encourage anyone interested in the position to apply.