CALIFORNIA – I started my Forest Service career in high school, on the Lake Tahoe Basin management unit, or “the Basin,” volunteering through the Generation Green Club. In 2010, I was selected for the Generation Green internship. That summer was a life changer; I was introduced to an entire new world that I didn’t know existed, even though I had grown up living in the forest.

Since then, I have had various positions within the Basin, but my passion is working with the community, especially children and teens. Conservation Education has been my main focus and I absolutely love it! I enjoy engaging with our local youth, teaching them about the outdoors and wildlife, and helping them build that connection to the land.

I care deeply about our Generation Green program because it is what helped change my life and I have seen it change the lives of others who have been part of it. This program helps students learn about careers within the Forest Service and gives them opportunities to explore areas that many have never visited – despite the national forest being in their backyards. We also encourage students to pursue higher education and we provide them with the skills to be leaders in the community. This is a program that I hope we can continue to offer for many years to come.

 

Not only has Generation Green helped connect its participants to nature, but it has also helped us engage their parents in the Forest Service mission. We have worked with local groups such as the Family Resource Center to host guided family hikes in Spanish. We’ve also joined their meetings and shared information about upcoming events and programs that the Basin is hosting.

Along with local youth and their families, I also get the opportunity to connect with the community at large and engage with them in local events and festivals. One of my personal goals has been to be more inclusive of all our community members by ensuring that we provide opportunities and information to all. As a Latina who has grown up in Tahoe’s Hispanic community, I know that there is a disconnection with all the resources Tahoe truly has to offer. I want to make sure we at the Forest Service help get families comfortable outdoors so they can feel that connection I was introduced to during my first summer working with the agency.

One of the things I am most proud of is having recently translated crucial information about the Caldor Fire out to our Spanish-speaking community. I worked with our forest’s public affairs staff to set up a station at the Family Resource Center to provide information about evacuating, what to pack, how to get informed, shelter locations and what routes to take. Many families I spoke to hadn’t had this information previously and when the entire town got evacuated a few days later, it felt great knowing that we had helped inform families beforehand, so when the time came, they had a better idea of what to do.

I enjoy helping others and providing opportunities like those that I had and the work I have done with the Forest Service has helped me accomplish this. I hope we continue to improve our programs and ensure that everyone in the community is included.