About Colorado Parks & Wildlife

The mission of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources is to develop, preserve, and enhance the state's natural resources for the benefit and enjoyment of current and future citizens and visitors.  In an effort to build diversity and inclusion we welcome applications from people of diverse backgrounds and abilities.

Our Mission is to perpetuate the wildlife resources of the state, to provide a quality state parks system, and to provide enjoyable and sustainable outdoor recreation opportunities that educate and inspire current and future generations to serve as active stewards of Colorado's natural resources. Colorado Parks and Wildlife.

About Colorado Trail Explorer (COTREX)

COTREX is the state’s official trail app managed by Colorado Parks & Wildlife. The app serves hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, providing a comprehensive statewide resource for finding officially sanctioned trails and other public lands information in a single place. The app contains over 45,000 miles of official trail across over 230 land management agencies, and COTREX partners with dozens of management agencies who actively use the platform to communicate critical real-time information to the public. Many agencies promote COTREX as their preferred trail app at visitor centers, in person, at trailheads and online. The public can find trails and activities across multiple use types including hiking, biking, equestrian, off-highway vehicles, snowshoeing, cross country skiing and snowmobiling. This year COTREX introduced an integration with the National Interagency Fire Center to show daily updates to prescribed burns and wildfire boundaries, and this winter is introducing a partnership with the Colorado Avalanche Information Center to display real-time avalanche forecasts and advisories across the state. COTREX is unique in that it only displays information that has been vetted and approved by the land manager in charge of those trails - no crowdsourced data. This makes the app a popular resource for those looking to recreate responsibly, stay safe, and respect wildlife and sensitive ecosystems around the state.

About the position

This position will assist the Colorado Trail Explorer (COTREX) program by managing and updating critical mapping data including trail use types, new and updated trail alignments, points of interest, trailheads, boundary data for public lands, and the creation and maintenance of recommended trail experiences related to accessibility, cultural heritage, and environmental education in partnership with land agencies around the state.

Job responsibilities

• Receiving and reviewing requests for updates to the state trails dataset that influence the COTREX map.
• Processing update requests in collaboration with our partners around the state to ensure accurate and comprehensive information that can be quickly implemented by CPW’s GIS managers and our vendors.
• Working with our CPW GIS points of contact to submit and update data for the state’s official trails dataset.
• Utilizing standard GIS software to produce shapefiles, edit attribute tables, and other data necessary to update and improve state trails and COTREX datasets.
• Providing suggestions for improvements in data management process and policy to improve accuracy and efficiency of updates.
• Managing multiple conversations simultaneously with partnering GIS professionals around the state while ensuring high quality customer service and successful outcomes that meet the needs of our partners and the standards of the program.
• Other needs as appropriate and of interest to the intern including project management, policy and process review, public communications and marketing support, product development and design support.

This role will have a permanent workstation at the Colorado Parks & Wildlife Littleton office, as well as the ability to work remotely in line with the department’s policies (three days in office, two days work from home).

This position presents a great opportunity for an early career GIS professional to hone their skills across a range of projects. Because land management agencies often have different processes, styles and formats for managing their GIS data, this work will provide many different challenges interpreting, processing and standardizing GIS data for our statewide trail dataset. There will also be ample opportunity to network and work directly with many GIS professionals in land management agencies outside of CPW.

These are some of the projects we’re currently working on, though more will likely arise throughout the time in the position.

• Updating trail alignments, attributes, and trailheads across local, state and federal properties
• Creating and updating public lands boundaries, in some cases utilizing PDFs and other non-geospatial maps to convert into shapefiles
• Pulling together and standardizing information from transit agencies related to public transportation to trailheads
• Working to collect and organize geospatial data related to accessibility and adaptive devices
• Processing large volumes of trail and trailhead data, and working to find sustainable processes for our largest data contributors - the US Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management
• Creating recommended routes with our partners to showcase their trail systems
• Researching other areas of growth for our maps, especially as it relates to accessibility, equity, inclusion, responsible recreation and environmental conservation

Compensation

This is an hourly role with an hourly rate of between $20-$24/hr. It is expected that this position will work between 30-40 hours per week. This is a temporary internship position that is limited to a maximum of six months.

Minimum requirements

• Must have a valid Colorado drivers' license or reliable transportation
• Previous experience working with GIS software systems such as ArcGIS, ArcOnline, etc. 
• Classes, certifications and other education can be substituted for work experience as long as the candidate can demonstrate the ability to work independently with GIS software and produce quality work
• Strong interpersonal communication skills
• Ability to work with little supervision
• Ability to take ownership of projects and suggest ways to improve process and outcomes
• High degree of professionalism working with outside partner agencies. You will represent COTREX and CPW on calls with partners across the state

Preferred qualifications

• 2-3 years of work experience working with GIS software systems
• A bachelor's degree in a geospatial or natural resource management discipline
• Experience working or volunteering in natural resources and/or outdoor recreation
• Experience working with or for government agencies, nonprofit, and tourism organizations
• An interest in a career in outdoor recreation or natural resource management fields, especially as it relates to GIS