Fish and Feathers Internship Program ONSITE Cuyahoga Valley National Park

Start/End Dates: May 11 2026 - July 31 2026
Compensation: $640 per week housing
Application Due: February 1 2026

Fish and Feathers Internship Program seeks to engage young professionals in
natural resource careers.
You must (additional requirements):

• Be a U.S. citizen or legal resident.
• Be between the ages of 18 - 30 years or up to 35 years if a veteran.
• Be willing to undergo a background check upon hiring.
• Have a valid drivers license and a good driving record.

*A personal vehicle is required for this position.

Position Description:

Fish and Feathers is a program funded by the National Park Service (NPS) and administered by Environment for the Americas. Our goal is to provide our national park partners with talented interns who are eager to learn and to engage with local communities. The intern will focus on supporting implementing and leading community outreach programs that focus on fishing and birding activities. The overall goal is to increase diverse community engagement with NPS partners during the program and in years to come.

Responsibilities:

• Reach out to local communities through outreach and educational activities to increase engagement in fishing and birdwatching

• Create new materials (i.e. social media educational games/activities signage etc.) to provide visitors with information about fish and birds at the NPS site

• Understand regulations regarding fishing and ethical birding and communicate this information to participants

• Establish or build upon fishing and birding programs at the NPS site

• Manage and maintain program equipment

• Host World MIgratory Bird Day Event

• Meet deadlines for Environment for the Americas program requirements.

Qualifications:

• Ability to hike and conduct field operations as part of a team and/or independently in an outdoor setting.
• Experience giving presentations and ability to learn new skills and transfer the knowledge to participants.
• Interest in learning fishing regulations and bird identification for program development and implementation.
• Ability to learn methods employed in fish and wildlife management.
• Strong interpersonal oral listening and written communication skills.
• Interest in learning new skills such as rafting canoeing and kayaking.

Major studies relevant to this position:

Successful candidates will have a background and/or coursework in the following areas or a strong interest in the outdoors with experience fishing and/or birdwatching.

• Biology
• Fisheries and Wildlife Sciences
• Ecology
• Aquaculture
• Communications/Marketing
• Environmental Science
• Recreation
• Interpretation/Education

About this Site:

Cuyahoga Valley National Park (CVNP) is unique in that it is part of a rural/suburban environment but within a reasonable (less than 30 minutes) driving distance to Cleveland and Akron Ohio. The intern will have access to nearby world-class medical care museums shopping live music and more. The park offers numerous cultural recreational and educational experiences available to the intern throughout the year. Seasonal park staff and interns live in a community of park housing within walking distance of one another fostering a close-knit community of like-minded individuals.

CVNP has many trails for hiking mountain biking casual biking trail riding cross-country skiing snowshoeing and running. Various locations throughout the park contain educational information. CVNP features both valley-bottom landscapes and rim features surrounding the valley. The highest point in CVNP is 1164 feet and the lowest is 590 feet making the area accessible for people of reasonable health and ability.

All cultural recreational and educational activities are within walking biking or driving distance from park housing. The distance from park housing to the interns primary work location is 4.51 miles so a personal vehicle is strongly recommended. At least five grocery stores a popular farmers market and a farm stand are within 10 miles (15-minute drive) of staff housing. Three hospitals three Walmart stores one Costco warehouse five Target stores and over a dozen gas stations are also located within a 15-mile drive.

Weather in northeast Ohio is generally moderate with four distinct seasons. Winter is cold and sometimes dry with occasional heavy snowfall. Spring is known for heavier rainfall. Summer is warm and humid with temperatures reaching 90 Fahrenheit on about 11 days per year. January is the coldest month and July is the warmest with an average high of 74F.

The intern will be stationed at the parks co-managed volunteer office working with professionals from NPS and the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park. A 40-hour workweek is typical which may occasionally include early mornings evenings or Saturdays. Spring summer and fall are the busiest program seasons when the intern may spend significant time outdoors often working with or leading volunteers on physically demanding projects in varied weather. Daily meetings assess weather conditions and safety protocols are in place to reduce risk. Poison ivy and ticks are common but northeast Ohio has no major predators venomous snakes or highly venomous spiders. Friendly wildlife including deer squirrels turtles beavers bald eagles and foxes are abundant.

Upon arrival the intern will receive a government PIV card and government email to ensure access to NPS sites and the office they will be assigned a workspace in the Volunteer Office and will work closely with NPS rangers and staff from the Conservancy in the Volunteer Management Office receiving a wide range of support. Daily supervisor meetings and weekly Volunteer Office meetings will allow regular check-ins. The Volunteer Management Office also collaborates with the Interpretation Education and Visitor Services Division and the Resource Management Division providing opportunities for the intern to broaden their experience and support field-level assignments.

Interns in this program will receive 480 hours towards Public Land Corps (PLC) Hiring Authority. See below on information about:

Public Land Corps Non-Competitive Hiring Authority (PLC)
The Public Land Corps Non-Competitive Hiring Authority is a special hiring authority available to qualifying interns. The intern must be between the ages of 18 and 30 years old inclusive or a veteran up to age 35 and complete 640 hours of work on an appropriate conservation project to be eligible for this hiring authority. Upon successful completion of the PLC project(s) the intern is eligible for two years to be hired non-competitively into a federal seasonal term or permanent position. The applicant must apply to a PLC-eligible position advertised on and selected off a non-competitive certificate of eligibility. For more information see DOI Personnel Bulletinsand 17-03.

EEO Statement

Environment for the Americas provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employmentand prohibits discrimination and harassment of any type without regard to race color religion age sex national origin disability status genetics protected veteran status sexual orientation gender identity or expression or any other characteristic protected by federal state or local policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment including recruiting hiring placement promotion termination layoff recall transfer leaves of absence compensation and training.