They’re not interns anymore: A motley crew takes on the Kalmiopsis
for the Siskiyou Hiker
by Gabriel Howe, executive director
05 SEPTEMBER 2021 | GRANTS PASS, OR. — Every 2021 intern walked away with a few things in hand. They all worked toward and received:
- Competency certificate issued by University of Montana’s Arthur Carhart National Wilderness Training Center
- Certificate from Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics
- CPR and First AID
- Crosscut saw certification recognized by U.S. Forest Service
- Certificate recognizing 500 hours of Corps service
But a handful of them are walking away with more than that. Interns Tiffani Ayres, Dan Crowley, and Abby Rodgers have been promoted into staff positions to work the month of September alongside crew leaders Nick Hodges and Owen Brodie.
The composition of this crew is unique. We’ve got a couple of veterans and new talent from across the nation who have elected to continue their service on the Wilderness Corps as staff members. And this was part of the plan this year.
As we aim to grow our Corps program in multiples, leadership was identified as the bottleneck. That’s what makes SMC stand out, our leadership. So this spring we put into place more training and leadership development, and we developed a track for interns who want to take on more responsibility. It was expensive. And now it’s looking like it will pay off as we move into a new month with an exceptional staff crew.
Tiffani, Abby, and Dan aren’t Wilderness Corps Interns anymore. They’ve earned their titles as staff crew members with a spot at the table.
Abby Rodgers 
She’s an event planner from Austin, TX who came to Oregon with strong work and management experience. Before she heads back to Texas, Abby will be heading out to the southern Kalmiopsis with Dan Crowley.
Dan Crowley
Dan is a senior at the University of Indiana but his home is in Southern California. He has express aspirations to relocate to the Pacific Northwest.
Tiffani Ayres
Tiffani just graduated from Ashland High School and is heading to University of Oregon as a Ford Scholar. She’s fiercely independent and ready to take on the Kalmiopsis with her crew leaders, Owen Brodie and Nick Hodges.
Nick Hodges
Nick has been with the Club since 2016. Nick’s expertise and leadership drives our field operations, and his executive insight is crucial in planning and strategy.
Owen Brodie
2020 intern Owen Brodie stepped into an Assistant Crew Leader position this year at the last minute. He’s about to graduate from University of Washington with a degree in engineering.
While this year’s wildfires are all the hot rage, they’re heading back to the scar of the 2017 Chetco Bar Fire, deep in the southern recess of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness. They’ll be salvaging an old pack trail that winds its way to the banks of a stretch of the Chetco River very few people see.
And while the glitz and glamour of the field season catch a lot of attention, this is a time of year I get especially excited about. It is when the nitty-gritty mechanics of workforce development take place. Now is when new leaders gain the skills they’ll need to take the next chapter of life head on, whether that’s with SMC, at another job, or in their academics.
They’ll be working in the most remote recesses of the Kalmiopsis Wilderness to keep up on the ongoing damage provided by the 2017 Chetco Bar Fire. Wish them luck as they embark on this next journey. Don’t forget about the mountains out there. Always Leave No Trace and long live the backwoods trails. ###
