By Tyler Hoguet
This summer has truly been unique in so many ways. The COVID-19 pandemic placed much of life on hold, and for many of my college peers, it placed their internships on hold as well. While other organizations and institutions decided to suspend their internship programs so they could focus on dealing with the consequences of the pandemic, NASF welcomed me onto their team. While Zoom meetings are no substitute for in-person interaction, NASF made sure to make me feel like a genuine part of the team during my time with the organization, and I can’t thank the NASF Foundation and the NASF staff enough for that.
In addition to taking me on this summer, the NASF team allowed me to make meaningful policy and communications contributions to the association. I was able to assist in NASF’s COVID-19 federal stimulus outreach by updating and expanding the NASF’s congressional contact list and conducting research. As part of my work on the Trillion Trees initiative, I prepared documents on state-led reforestation efforts and carbon markets, researched and summarized climate change assessments and objectives identified in state Forest Action Plans, and helped formulate one-pagers for state forestry agencies’ climate change activities.
For NASF communications, I helped reorganize and tag the organization’s Flickr account. By tagging all the photos, it’s much easier to find, download, and use NASF-owned photography. (State forestry agencies: stay tuned for the NASF Flickr user guide I made!) I also helped create content for the organization’s social media platforms and brainstormed ideas for social media campaigns, like NASF’s Centennial Challenge initiative.
While the summer of 2020 was difficult in many ways, it had some positives. For one, the Great American Outdoors Act—perhaps the most significant public lands bill in nearly half a century—was passed by Congress. And on a more personal level: I spent it with NASF as their intern. I would like to thank the NASF Foundation and the entire staff for the opportunity to serve as your intern this summer. It really was a privilege.
Tyler Hoguet was NASF’s 2020 Summer James Hubbard Intern for Policy and Communications. He will return to Michigan State University this fall.