Summer Reflections: 2026 Stewardship Internship Program
By Tai Kim & Maya Williams
This summer, we had the opportunity to work alongside the nine Klamath River teenagers who completed MKWC’s Stewardship Internship program. Over the course of the six week program, interns participated in a vast range of restoration work, professional development trainings, and learning opportunities across all four of MKWC’s programs. The interns from Happy Camp (Eva, Roger, Abby, and Thadeus) and from Orleans (Leland, Tasia, Barret, Rory, and Karmen) helped make everyday a new adventure of laughter and learning.
Most importantly, these inspired young people demonstrated a strength of character that reflects the values they have learned while growing up in Mid Klamath communities. They showed grit while working long hot days removing over 17,000 invasive plants from the landscape. They embraced adventure in new environments while diving 12 stream miles during surveys for adult and juvenile salmon. They exercised creativity and critical thinking while improving fish passage and cold water refugia at the mouths of 7 Klamath River tributaries. During 3 prescribed burns, they demonstrated a positive attitude to do good work and see it through to completion. They brought a willingness to learn and to share their own knowledge during many training opportunities that included Swiftwater Rescue, CPR & First Aid, bumble bee surveying, low-tech meadow restoration, drone operation, and resume building. They took on responsibility and showed compassion when supporting 2 activity days for the Happy Camp Summer Day Camp. Throughout it all, these interns developed strong connections with each other and the land and waterways they call home, working together towards a common goal to nurture ecological balance.
Almost all of the interns expressed interest in continuing on career paths in natural resources, specifically in watershed restoration. Several of them want to pursue restoring good fire to the landscape as their life’s work, at least in part inspired by their experience this summer participating in prescribed burns. As the adult crew leaders for the Stewardship Internship, we feel lucky and blessed to have been able to work closely with such awesome young people. When thinking about the future in all its uncertainty, we find some peace seeing that the next generation is rising up with the knowledge, the courage, the motivation, and the integrated wisdom that it will take to restore balance to our watershed.
This 2026 MKWC Youth Stewardship Internship was made possible with funding from The Trees Foundation, CA Natural Resources Agency, and National Fish and Wildlife Foundation.
The Youth Stewardship Internship is one part of MKWC’s Workforce Development programming. In 2026, MKWC also employed one Early Career Intern who rotated through restoration and stewardship assignments while earning work experience credit through College of the Redwoods. Additionally, MKWC employed six Fire Apprentices who gained hands-on experience in prescribed fire, fuels management, and forest monitoring.
