THE FOREST SERVICE CAVE AND KARST PROGRAM AND GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA GEOCORPS INTERNSHIPS: A BENEFICIAL PARTNERSHIP

The Forest Service has partnered with the Geological Society of America GeoCorps internship program for over 10 years, with internships hired for topics ranging from volcanology to paleontology. Approximately 531,815 square kilometers (205,335 square miles) of bedrock known to host caves and karst systems occur on National Forest System (NFS) lands. Known caves and karst areas occur in over 100 National Forests and Grasslands, and over 2,200 significant caves have been identified to date. Over the past 10 years, Forest Service cave and karst managers have utilized GeoCorps America internships to accomplish cave and karst resource work in the field including: creating databases, conducting field inventories, mapping subsurface resources, and educating visitors. More than 20 interns have worked on forests from Alaska to West Virginia specifically with the cave and karst program, with other interns working with cave and karst resources as part of their duties. With limited budgets and diversified duties of resource managers, the assistance received from GeoCorps interns with the cave and karst programs on national forests has allowed a great quantity of work to be achieved leading to better management of these unique and important resources.