Albany highlights habitat-restoration intern program; city-funded after initial grant

Margo Cunningham, Albany’s Natural Areas Coordinator, told the Parks and Recreation Commission that the city’s Habitat Restoration intern program is in its third year and provides paid, hands‑on summer experience in ecology and habitat restoration.

The program places interns with Public Works crews to reduce fire hazards on Albany Hill, restore and maintain creek and hillside habitat, repair trails and map native plant and animal populations. Cunningham said the program began with a wildfire‑resilience grant from the Coastal Conservancy; the city now funds the program and staff are seeking grants to continue and expand it.

“We’re in the third year of this program. It’s out of Public Works, and it’s paid experience for interns to learn about natural history and habitat restoration,” Cunningham said during the commission’s presentation.

Intern Kat (Kat) Alexander described field work she performed this summer, including plant and animal identification, making and installing stick bundles for path stabilization, seed collection and propagation, and assisting the Urban Tilth watershed crew. Alexander said the work increased her species identification skills: “Before this, I did not know how to identify any butterfly, and now I can identify at least four on my own time,” she said.

Cunningham and Alexander told commissioners the interns also learn via webinars, readings and mapping exercises. Staff said one intern project this year focused on bat boxes; an additional intern who was on a class trip was scheduled to present details at a later meeting.

Commissioners and members of the public praised the program during the comment period. Commissioners noted the program helps build future restoration capacity and asked that the interns’ documentation of flora and fauna be added to the city’s public guides; Cunningham said updating the city’s online repository is a goal for future interns.

The commission took no formal action on the presentation; staff and interns left the commissioners with a request to support continued city funding and future grant applications.