Jr. Ranger Intern Intern Program – Session 1

Our first session of the Junior Ranger Intern Program at Radnor Lake was held June 7th thru June 12th. The park staff worked with these 9 interns over the last week on numerous projects around the natural area over this 6-day period (9am-4pm daily).

Now in our 19th year of this internship program, the Jr. Ranger Intern Program creates an opportunity for participants to work with state park rangers on trail projects at Radnor Lake, focused environmental education at the Barbara J. Mapp Aviary Education Center to increase their exposure to quality environmental education programs and gain an insight into natural resource protection.

This is a labor-intensive collaborative effort between the Friends of Radnor Lake, the Radnor Lake Staff, Tennessee State Parks and the Jr. Ranger Interns. One of our main projects during the first session of our Jr. Ranger Intern Program 2021 was working at the Barbara J. Mapp Aviary Education Center and on our Native Grasslands Initiative. These Jr. Ranger Interns hiked over 5 1/2 miles on Monday to start off the week, then worked with the park staff each day to improve the care of our captive birds of prey ambassadors at the aviary center.

Special thank you to Friends of Radnor Lake for funding the Jr. Ranger Intern Program this year and for the past 19 years! Friends of Radnor Lake provided all meals, t-shirts, work gloves and $25 per day stipends for each of our youth participants during this 6-day session.

Our collective goal of the Jr. Ranger Intern Program at Radnor Lake is instilling a conservation ethic and stewardship of our natural resources for future generations! Stay tuned, we have two more sessions of this youth intern program at Radnor Lake in July with Session #2 of our Jr. Ranger Intern Program beginning on July 5th as we resume building the Harris Ridge Trail.