WASHINGTON, D.C. (WVDN) — The Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP), USDA Forest Service’s Heritage Program, Wayne National Forest in Ohio, and Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia have joined together for Cultural Heritage in the Forest (CHIF). It is a hands-on internship program for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), training them in cultural resources management, historic preservation, and conservation.
The goal of the program is to train young professionals of color to enter historic preservation careers within the Heritage Program and further diversify career paths that traditionally do not reflect the diversity of the nation.
CHIF began on July 10 with a week of virtual orientation programming. Nine students and two faculty advisors will spend one week in Wayne National Forest July 16-23 where they will meet with Forest leadership, District Rangers, and members of the Miami Indian Tribe. They will visit various historic sites in the Forest, including Lake Vesuvius Recreation Area, Citizen Conservation Corps-era Black history sites, Poke Patch, Tinkers Cave, Shawnee Tower, Payne Cemetery, and Payne’s Crossing Farmstead. Activities will include archaeological testing, stewardship projects, and conducting archaeological surveys.
The students will travel to the Monongahela National Forest July 24-28 and meet with Forest leadership, preservation partners, tribal representatives, and curators from Grave Creek Mound Archaeological Complex. They will visit Seneca Rocks Discovery Center, Sites Homestead, and Spruce Knob. Activities will include a collections workshop, conducting conditions assessments and mapping at historic properties for adaptive reuse, and learning about Tribal relations.
On the final leg of their trip July 30-August 2, the students will spend time in Washington, D.C. meeting with Forest Service and ACHP leadership, attending career workshops, and learning more about why historic places are preserved.
The students participating in CHIF are the following: Abraham Reid Jr., Elizabeth City State University, NC; Acacia Tyler, University of Central Missouri; Alanah Saunders, Josué Woodard, and Summer Ray, Hampton University, VA; Celeste Metayer and Leah Anderson, Howard University, DC; Erin Simms, Claflin University, SC; and Nelida Ornelas-Rosales, Lincoln University, PA.
The two faculty advisors are DeWayne Moore, Prairie View A&M University, TX, and Latif Tarik, Elizabeth City State University.
Over the course of the four-week program, both fieldwork and coursework will expose students to the different facets of historic preservation and the critical work of the Forest Service’s Heritage Program. The students also will network with historic preservation professionals. The Forest Service manages 193 million acres of forest land across the nation. Students will be able to pursue career tracks through the USDA Forest Service Pathways program for students and other opportunities: www.fs.usda.gov/working-with-us/jobs/dream-job/pathways.
For more information about Cultural Heritage in the Forest contact Lynne Richmond at lrichmond@achp.gov, Gavin Hale, Heritage Program Manager at the Monongahela National Forest at john.hale@usda.gov, or Andy Tremayne, Heritage Program Manager at Wayne National Forest at andrew.tremayne@usda.gov.
Learn more about the partners in the Cultural Heritage in the Forest program:
- Advisory Council on Historic Preservation: www.achp.gov
- Monongahela National Forest: www.fs.usda.gov/mnf
- Wayne National Forest: www.fs.usda.gov/wayne
