This week I began my internship with the Bureau of Land Management, in the Seeds of Success program. I was assigned to the Vernal Utah Field Office some 2,000 miles from my Upstate New York home. Upon taking this position the general reaction of my family and friends was “wow, that’s really far away!”. Of course they are correct, however the opportunity that I have been blessed with by the people of The Conservation and Land Management Program is one that I could never pass up. Having never traveled to the Western United States there is an amount of excitement mixed with nervousness, but this passed as I had expected.

In the first few days of my experience I have come to realize the vastness of the West. The land in Utah goes on for what seems like forever, with amazing views of mountains and canyons. Seeing these things on a daily basis is something that I can really learn to appreciate coming from a more or less flat region. There are many different cultures and regions of the country, and being able to move to Utah and experience something that is so different than what I am familiar with has caused an inmeasureable amount of personal growth.

The field work thus far has also been as unique to me as life in Vernal. Being able to go out each day and work with species I have never seen before has allowed me to reach a greater understanding of different types of ecosystem functioning beyond what I am familiar with back East.

Josh M.

Vernal, Utah

Bureau of Land Management