Protected Lands Database Intern @ Cascade Land Conservancy

Position Summary 
Comprehensive, accurate and detailed information on public lands and private protected lands is a fundamental tool that supports Cascade Land Conservancy’s land conservation, policy analysis and resource management activities as well as a wider array of efforts undertaken by other public and private sector entities at the national, state and local levels. As progress is made toward implementing the conservation and community development strategies outlined in The Cascade Agenda, there is also a growing need to track contributions made by a highly distributed array of public and private partners. 

CLC’s Central Puget Sound Protected Lands Database (CPS-PLDB) provides the most comprehensive source available for tax parcel-based conservation information concerning public and protected lands in our region. It contains location, configuration, ownership, management, use and other information throughout King, Kittitas, Pierce and Snohomish Counties. 

The primary focus of this internship will be to update the PLDB with changes to boundary and attribute information through calendar year 2009 based on information collected from our many conservation partners as well as that published in other public agency datasets. The intern will also research lands currently recorded in the PLDB to improve our understanding of management and use characteristics as well as other attributes. Finally, the intern will update and publish county-scale results on a hard-copy poster, to support conservation planning at CLC and among our many partners in The Cascade Agenda. 

Required Qualifications: 
• Currently enrolled in, or a recent graduate of, an undergraduate geography, natural resource or urban policy/planning program pursuing a curriculum with a GIS focus. Second- or third-year undergraduate students in similar fields of study, who have completed significant GIS/geospatial coursework, will also be considered. 
• Proficiency with ArcGIS 9x software, including ArcMap and ArcCatalog. The ideal candidate will be comfortable working with geodatabases in editing sessions, and especially working with attribute tables. 
• Familiarity working with county tax assessor’s parcel datasets is a plus. 
• Familiarity with protected and public lands in the 5-county (Snohomish, King, Pierce, Kittitas, Mason) region, as well as knowledge of owning/managing agencies is helpful but not required. 

Benefits: 
• Real-world Conservation GIS experience 
• Introduction to best practices in the geospatial field 
• Exposure to working with public and private conservation datasets. 
• Experience building and editing large datasets, and managing GIS workflows. 
• Opportunity to learn basics of professional cartography. 
• Exposure to public and private conservation agencies in western Washington. 

Start Date and Availability: Start date flexible, but should begin in early July. Intern will be asked to make approximately a 3 month commitment and work at least 15 hours per week. Note: All internships are unpaid but offer excellent opportunities to explore a career in the conservation or community development sectors.Application instructions:Send a resume and letter of interest with the name of the internship in the subject line to Heidi-Marie Clemens, Intern Coordinator, at intern@cascadeland.org.