The first week we went out with every department from Karst to Archeology to the Petroleum Engineer Techs. The coolest thing we did was go to Boyd’s cave with Archeology to see pictographs and a giant cave that Native Americans would use to hide from enemies hundreds of years ago.

 I also assisted the Wildlife Biologist with lizard trapping, looking for the Dunes Sagebrush Lizard. Wildlife also took me to look at Pronghorn habitat and possible fence upgrades. The following day, I went on a ride along with the Petroleum Engineer Technicians to inspect oil and gas developments.

After that week we finally made it to my “home” department as a Natural Resource Specialist Intern. I learned how to write environmental assessments for Sundries and applications for permits to drill. Writing environmental assessments was very challenging because they consist of traveling onsite to the purposed oil and gas locations, checking for wildlife, potash, range, karst, hydrology, and other concerns in person and using GIS. Then I would write the environmental assessments, which would be sent to all the specialists in the BLM to be signed off. If any specialist had a problem with the location or the assessment, then you would have to fix it and compromise the location of the development.

I learned to be social because everyone in the BLM office will touch your assessment and leave comment or concerns that I had to address. This internship has taught me a lot about the federal government and I hope to continue my career with the BLM after my internship.