I am so grateful to have spent the summer working with Blue Hill Heritage Trust. I had never been to the Blue Hill Peninsula before, and I felt immediately welcomed, both in the office and by the community. I loved working alongside Vienna and Kaela and the whole BHHT team on a wide range of projects across every facet of the trust’s mission.
Stewardship took up the largest portion of our time. The trail maintenance schedule sent us out on different trails each week, allowing us to explore all over the landscape. At Newbury Neck and Walker Pond, we got to work with Andrew on creating new trails. I learned more than I could ever have imagined about what goes into building a trail, considering natural flow, accessibility, and erosion management. During volunteer days, I got to learn from community members, as well, hearing stories and trying out new tools while working together on placing tree tubes or building bog bridging.
Outreach was the secondary focus of the internship, and most of that time went into planning and executing my own event. With the support of Brooke, Beth, and Emily, I got to design a pop-up table to talk about the history of white pines. I found it exciting, if a little bit nerve-racking, to take the reins and share something I was interested in. We also helped with other BHHT events, including prep for the Blue Hill Mountain Trail Race, Saturday mornings at the farmers market, and the trust’s fortieth anniversary party – the biggest event of the summer. It was a lot of fun to have the entire staff come together to pull it off, and to see the whole community show up to celebrate BHHT’s legacy of conservation.
Forestry work with Jw was another highlight for me. Going out into Meadowbrook and Surry Forest to take inventory plots was the time when I felt like I learned the most. I had no previous exposure to forestry, and I really enjoyed learning new ways to see forests from the scale of individual trees to whole landscapes, thinking ahead to how they would change over decades.
Working for a small nonprofit was a wonderful experience: every single staff member was passionate about their work and happy to share their expertise. I’m leaving Blue Hill full of inspiration and drive to make a difference, thanks to the incredible community I got to be a part of.