By Brittany Harrington, Development Director
A thumbs-up from the field! Laura spends her summer hiking protected properties, meeting landowners, and helping ensure conservation commitments are honored for generations to come.
From battling impassible overgrowth, hot temperatures, and ticks in the field to navigating calls with landowners, scheduling conflicts, and sitting through weekly staff meetings, Laura is getting the full job experience as this summer’s Stewardship Intern. Not only is she helping our Conservation Projects Manager during the busy monitoring season but is also gaining real world skills that will carry into her career after graduation.
This opportunity was made possible by the generosity and vision of Dr. Nick Sanyal and Ella Inglebret, and Archie and Mary George, who created the Legacy of Land Trusts Endowment at the University of Idaho. Through an incredible partnership with the College of Natural Resources, PLT staff, me included, get to work with high caliber students each summer while introducing them to the incredible work land trust staff get to do every day.
Easement monitoring and stewardship is key to permanently protecting land in perpetuity, and this year Laura is at the very front of that work. After a short course in easement monitoring fundamentals from the Land Trust Alliance, she has been diving into our easements and baselines to deeply understand the intricacies of each property, their histories, and how we can be a partner to landowners today in keeping up the terms of the easement.
We often think of stewardship and recordkeeping as storytelling for staff in the future. Laura’s thoughtful preparation, clear communication with landowners, and attention to detail while walking properties combine into annual monitoring reports that tell the story of each property for stewardship staff in the generations to come.
You don't protect a landscape by driving past it. You protect it by getting down in the grass, paying attention, and learning what the land has to say.
This summer, Laura is visiting each of our 30 easements, meeting with landowners, connecting them with resources to assist in land management, and monitoring the status of the conservation easement. She is the point of contact for scheduling the monitoring visits. While on the land, she takes notes, observes property details, and takes photos to document property conditions. After visits, Laura is responsible for drafting an annual monitoring report to capture the relevant portions of the visit, and for assessing any follow-up actions.
This position provides hands-on conservation experience and opportunities to build skills in monitoring, land stewardship, landowner relations, and project management, making it an excellent steppingstone for a career in conservation or natural resource management. This internship keeps talented young conservationists local, gives them a reason to build their careers here, and strengthens PLT's capacity long term.
““So far, as the monitoring intern this summer, I have learned so much about conservation easements and have enjoyed visiting properties and landowners that are all unique in their own ways. The PLT team is always a fun group to work with and building relationships with the team has been a blast. Getting out on the land has also been a great way to refresh and improve my knowledge about native, non-native, and invasive plants.””
Right now, with the existing funds in the endowment, Palouse Land Trust can hire an intern only part-time. Our goal is to increase the endowment to $250,000 so we can hire amazing students, like Laura, and our past interns Kelsey and Abby, full-time each summer with competitive living wages.
We have reached 60% of our goal because of some incredible donors who believe in our mission, believe in student success, and believe in the power of people to protect this place. Thank you so much to every person who has helped this endowment grow. Every gift already given built something real. Every dollar donated to the Legacy of Land Trusts shapes the future of students here on the Palouse.
Today's interns become tomorrow's conservation leaders. Every mile walked this summer is part of an investment in the future of the Palouse.
We’d love to invite more people to be a part of this next chapter. A gift to the endowment is an investment in a real person and this place. There are several ways to give (online, stock, DAF, check, etc.) through both the University of Idaho Foundation and Palouse Land Trust.
The land has always been our greatest teacher. Now it’s time to pass those lessons on to the next generation of conservationists who will steward this place you call home. When you support the Legacy of Land Trusts Endowment, you’re planting the seeds of leadership that will grow for generations. Every gift, large or small, helps.
Thank you for supporting Palouse Land Trust and our students. If you want to reach out to Laura directly and hear more about the work she’s doing you can reach her at monitor@palouselandtrust.org.
And if you have questions about or would like to discuss giving, you can reach out to me at brittany@palouselandtrust.org or (208) 874-6056.