The Harney Internship Program is designed to enrich and inspire high school-aged students in discovering local career opportunities. The program aims to cultivate a homegrown workforce, motivated and prepared to pursue fruitful careers in a range of industries right here in Harney County. Through our local partnerships, HDP provides high school aged youth opportunities to test out career fields or develop skills they have cultivated in high school in the real world with weekly expectations and regular supervision. Employees will receive industry networking opportunities, career advice, and guidance as well as a formal evaluation upon completion of the program. If earned, individuals may also receive college credit from one of our higher education partners and possible letters of recommendation from HDP staff. 

Fire Ready Internships: 

This past fall, the Harney County Wildfire Collaborative recognized several needs following the 2024 wildfire season. Some of these needs centered around a shortage of qualified individuals to fight fire, issues with fully preparing our landscapes to endure inevitable fire, and an overall reduction in the number of young adults pursuing careers in and around wildland fire, forestry and rangeland management. This internship model can be used to address some of these problems in the short term, while also developing a career pathway for young adults about to enter the local workforce. 

Possible Project Work: 

Young adults participating in the Fire Ready Internship Program could assist federal and state agencies, local fire protection districts, neighborhoods in and near the wildland-urban interface (WUI), or local residences in need of fire-related property projects. Below is a list of possible project ideas to consider: 

• Small tree and vegetation removal 
• Hand thinning 
• Raking and pilling 
• Chipping of debris 
• Weed & invasive species  monitoring or mapping 
• Pre or Post fire monitoring 
• Post Fire Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation
• Post Fire hazard tree mapping/removal 
• Post-fire flora and fauna surveys 
• Public Outreach and Education 
• Fuel Mapping 
• Fire Road Mapping

Possible Interns: 

TVCC is partnering with Burns High School to offer students an Intro to Wildland Fire Course.  This course would fulfill the needed NWCG requirements for a Type 2 Wildland Fire Fighter.  While interns would likely not be fighting any fires this summer, they will have shown an interest and aptitude for this entry-level position. This experience would likely prove valuable to the students by offering them some field experience. This would likely also offer partners the opportunity to recruit potential wildland firefighters for the following season as they will have already gained their type 2 credentials and have a summer of related experience obtained. 

Project Timelines: 

HDP will work to identify collaborative partner needs, line up work dates, and coordinate a summer internship schedule. Partners wishing to collaborate with the internship program will need to set aside dates, project work, equipment needed, and supervision/oversight of project expectations. Ideally, projects would come in the form of a 4-day work week, or multiple 4-day work weeks. If projects were to fall short of a full weeks’ worth of work, it would be ideal if the partners could provide career exposure, USA Jobs training or other beneficial and related training to the interns during the remainder of the week. This could take the form of exposing interns to Rangeland Management, Forestry, Ecology, Wildlife and Fisheries, Soils or other wildland fire-related careers. Connections between project work and related careers would be preferred. 

College Credit Availability and Requirements: 

All of the positions offered through the Early Career Employment Program will be eligible for college credit through Treasure Valley Community College’s Natural Resource Department.  Interns may elect to fill out paperwork to qualify their work experience hours for college credit.  At that point, requirements for credit will be provided to them. This will aid interns wishing to pursue higher education in these related fields by starting some of their future credit requirements while still in high school.