Fish and Feathers Internship Program ONSITE Acadia 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 recommended 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:

Acadia National Park is headquartered in Bar Harbor Maine on Mount Desert Island along the North Atlantic coastline about 264 miles from Boston Mass. and 50 miles from Bangor Maine. At four million visits a year Acadia is among the top 10 most visited national parks in the United States. Visitors enjoy 27 miles of historic motor roads 158 miles of hiking trails and 45 miles of carriage roads. The islands 18 summits including Cadillac Mountain (1530 feet/466 meters) are the highest on the Atlantic Coast north of Rio de Janeiro.

The climate has significant seasonal temperature differences with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and cold (sometimes severely cold) winters. Work is primarily in the field with long periods of standing and walking on uneven terrain in all types of weather including intense heat in the summer. Ticks and stinging insects are part of the outdoor environment.

The Island Explorer provides seasonal bus service on and near the island. Downtown Bar Harbor is four miles from park headquarters and offers grocery stores and restaurants. Park-provided housing can vary based on location but tends to involve multi-bedroom house or apartment settings with shared common space kitchens and bathrooms.

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.