Environmental Organizations: The "Old Guard"

With the promise of green jobs on the horizon, people may get caught up in the excitement over green start-up companies. This is certainly understandable and there's good reason to investigate these job possibilities.

However, in the excitement, it's quite easy to over look or forget about the "old guard," the companies and non-profits that have been around, in some cases, since the nineteenth century.

At the National Audubon Society's web site we found a link to their employment page that, at the time of this writing, listed thirty-eight jobs and eleven internships.

The National Park Service has hundreds of jobs listed at their site, including volunteer and seasonal employment. The seasonal jobs are often on a part-time basis.

Since 1905, as an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture, the Forest Service has played a role in employing people for outdoor, on-site jobs and now announces vacant positions on a regular basis.

In addition to these well established organizations, one should also take a look at the largest member-supported conservation group in the United States: The National Wildlife Federation. See the "Jobs at NWF" link at the bottom of their home page.

American Forests is the nation's oldest nonprofit citizen conservation organization. Internships at American Forests are a great way to get on-the-job experience - whether you're interested in a conservation career, trees and forests, or simply want to learn more about communications, development, marketing, policy or research.

American Rivers, a nonprofit conservation organization dedicated to protecting and restoring rivers nationwide, was founded over 25 years ago in a dusty Denver office. Today they have offices in Washington, DC and across the country.

Conservation International believes that Earth's natural heritage must be maintained if future generations are to thrive spiritually, culturally and economically. Their mission is to conserve the Earth's living heritage, our global biodiversity, and to demonstrate that human societies are able to live harmoniously with nature.

Environmental Defense, a leading national, nonprofit organization, representing more than 300,000 members since 1967, have linked science, economics, and law to create innovative, equitable, and cost-effective solutions to the most urgent environmental problems.

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