Returning to LHIP – My Park Planning Era

03 May Returning to LHIP – My Park Planning Era

Hello Internet!

Diana Quintero (me) is back to LHIP for a second round! Last year was my first year in the Latino Heritage Internship Program, and I had such beautiful experiences and loved it so much that I decided to apply again for one of these coveted spots. I was fortunate enough to be invited back to this program, this time as a Park Planning intern. This role is a bit of a 180 from my role as museum outreach intern last year, but I am already learning so much about the topic I center part of my career on: making cultural resources relevant to people. Instead of having to ship off to a new city for the summer, I get to stay right where I am in colorful Colorado, which is an added bonus because I love living here, and I was wrapping up my master’s thesis. The internship position I am in now extends past the summer and goes until December, meaning that this is essentially my first “big girl” job out of school. I couldn’t be more grateful to be gaining experience in a field I am passionate about. A more pertinent question is, what will my new role entail? Another reason I am beyond excited to receive this position because, towards the end of my degree, I took a course on why my home discipline of archaeology is written into laws and policies that the public benefits from, which is precisely what planning looks like.

As a planning intern, I will be working for the park planning in the Regional Office in Denver (technically Lakewood), which services regions 6,7 and 8…yes, that is quite a few parks. Although they are not in Colorado, I am not alone in this position; I am part of a cohort with other interns across the United States who work at different sites. Alongside them, I will be learning about the multifaceted nature of creating plans for different park functions.  Planning, as I understand it, is the broader field of optimizing people’s experiences at national parks, monuments, and protected areas. This can range from monitoring the use of different areas to creating plans to establish new National Park Service sites. Admittedly, although I already knew a bit about cultural resource management, I don’t know much about park planning outside cultural resource management. I hope this internship will teach me more about a career in this field. It’s my second week at the site, and I am already learning so much; it’s a little confusing because I’ve been brought on at different phases of different projects, and it takes a little bit of time to settle in.

A bit more about my site, as I am wrapping up here. I work at the NPS Regional Planning Office in Lakewood, Colorado, but I live in Boulder, Colorado. My commute to work is better than what I envision many commutes are like because I drive alongside the beautiful foothills of the Rocky Mountains to get to Lakewood. However, I came in at an interesting time because the Regional Planning Office will be moving to the Federal Center…just down the road. It’s an exciting but interesting time to be an intern at this office; I’ll have to report back on what the new setup looks like. For now, the setup looks like something out of an office you’d see in a movie, cubicles upon cubicles, some already emptied out because of the move happening. When I saw this, I thought I had unlocked a new phase of adulting, “the office” phase. Despite the empty cubicles because of the move, I genuinely enjoy the people I am working with and they genuinely have an interest in helping me succeed. I suppose I could end this post with the best things, the most surprising thing, and the thing I am most looking forward to in the position.

• The best thing has been the people. Everyone is so incredibly busy at this office with seriously important work, but they are happy to welcome a new intern to the team. I’ve also really enjoyed the drives out there. I am sure it will become monotonous as it goes on, but I have the best views on my commute to work.
• The most surprising thing has been learning that planning processes are multi-year projects and interdisciplinary. For example, around 30 people participated in a call I attended this week to start planning processes for a park in New Mexico. 
• I am most looking forward to traveling because it will be very different for me than for some folks working at park units who are always outside. I am excited about the travel because the Regional Planning Office is essentially a middleman between parks and the planning office in Washington, DC. This means that when working with different park units, travel is necessary to complete the steps in the planning process. Perhaps I am romanticizing traveling for work, but I should find out in time because I am helping my supervisor plan a workshop at an NPS park in New Mexico. So I will be visiting some old stomping grounds. 

In summary, I am learning as I go, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I am looking forward to reporting what I learn as I go.