Three Rivers Park District — Gale Woods Farm

Organizational Goals

Three Rivers Park District’s mission is to promote environmental stewardship through recreation and education in a natural-resources based park system. The Park District consists of 26,000 acres of park reserves, regional parks, trails and special use areas that annually provide outdoor opportunities for three million park visitors. Gale Woods Farm is a 410-acre property in Minnetrista is located 30 miles west of Minneapolis, managed by Three Rivers Park District for multiple uses including agriculture, recreation, and natural resource conservation. Approximately 100 acres of the property is managed as an educational working farm with diversified production systems including pasture-based livestock, hay production, gardens, and orchards. The goal of the farm is to demonstrate the practices and culture of contemporary small-scale production farming, and promote land stewardship through agriculture education. In 2011 the farm attracted over 50,000 visitors.

Internship Description

Several possibilities exist for an internship. An intern would not be limited to the potential projects described below.

• Agriculture Education Intern: Assist with instructing school programs and developing age-appropriate sustainable agriculture curriculum.
   
• Livestock/Animal Husbandry Intern: Assist in the daily chores and seasonal veterinary tasks of caring for a flock of 30 sheep, 10 cattle and 50-100 laying hens, broiler chickens, pasture-raised pigs and turkeys.
   
• Garden/Horticulture Intern: Assist with all aspects of a 5 acre organic market garden and 3 acre orchard, including greenhouse, gardens, harvesting, processing and marketing.

Intern Skills/Experience

• Agriculture Education Intern: At least one year of experience in education and/or enrollment in an education/teaching licensure program and at least one season of experience working in an agricultural or horticultural setting.
• Livestock/Animal Husbandry Intern: At least one year of experience working with livestock or veterinary care and enrollment in an animal science, veterinary or other related program.
• Garden/Horticulture Intern: At least one year of experience working in gardening, landscaping, orchard care or greenhouse work and enrollment in a horticulture, agronomy or related program.

Internship Timeline

• Agriculture Education Intern: April 1st—June 1st or September 10th –November 10th 2-3 days/week 9:00 a.m. –3:00 p.m. Intern could work a somewhat flexible schedule, but at a minimum they would need to come 2 days/week for 6weeks. Total of 12 days at 6 hours/day for a minimum of 72 hours.
• Livestock/Animal Husbandry Intern: March 25th—May 25th : 2-3 days a week for a minimum of 3 hours/day. This could occur on weekdays or weekend days.
• Garden/Horticulutre Intern: Any two month period from May 1st—September 1st : 2-3 days a week for a minimum of 4 hours/day.

Internship Stipends/Benefits

There are no stipends or benefits available for an internship. However, there are seasonal positions with an hourly wage of $9.50-$13 per hour. These hourly positions could be combined with some additional learning opportunities to create an internship for qualified individuals.

Additional Information

Visit the Gale Woods website for more information about the park.