Internships Opportunities

Back from the Land: Fall 2026 Fellowship at the Center for Rural Livelihoods

This free fellowship is for those who take seriously the possibility of a popular movement for social justice and ecological regeneration. Orienting around local power-building, the fellowship has two tracks: a) the municipality and b) the university. Both are loci of contested power. Students and those grassroots movements that build local power are leading the way against end times fascism. 

In the 1970s, 10,000 communes sprung up in the back-to-the-land movement as the social movements of the 1960s were in retreat. Now, facing end times fascism and climate chaos, we are orienting back-from-the-land. CRL has been rooted in Cottage Grove since 1981 — long enough to have community but also long enough to know what we don't yet know about this town. 

The fellowship consists of three parts and two tracks. First off, everyone will engage in “bread labor” – three hours of physical work on the 40-acre campus that showcases restoration forestry, agroforestry, and natural building. Secondly, fellows will read and discuss Naomi Klein and Astra Taylor's forthcoming book, End Times Fascism. And thirdly, participants will pick one of the two tracks. 

Track A: The municipality (four weeks, September 12th - October 9th) focuses on doing the work of understanding one specific place together — Cottage Grove, Oregon. Using a combination of tools and methodologies, we’ll study and engage the town, culminating with a community gathering at the end of the term. 

Track B: The university (two weeks, September 12th - September 26th) focuses on social movements in the university context. This track will spend time preparing for the tumultuous academic year ahead. Students will spend time exploring the neoliberal university landscape in order to strategically conceive of upcoming social movement actions. 

This intensive program may be physically, socially, and intellectually demanding with bread labor in the mornings, and Track A or B in some afternoons and some evenings discussing ideas and theory. And yet, we intend the fellowship to be an integrative experience that nourishes the whole person, fosters connection to the land, and enriches each other by furthering our community work. Housing and food are provided.

Application and acceptance is rolling. The application window will close and final decisions will be made by August 10th.

Apply Here

Back from the Land Internship Program Leaders

Josh Fattal

Josh Fattal’s intellectual focus has been on social movements and world history. He is a co-author of a memoir A Sliver of Light: Three American Detained in Iran about his time as a hostage. With a B.S. from UC Berkeley and a doctorate from New York University, his focus has been on the intellectual history of social movements. His most recent public writing and talks are on the Zionist roots of Israel’s genocide and Israeli fascism in global perspective. He is involved in various initiatives in and around Cottage Grove, including those related to disaster preparedness, local radio, and the public market. 

Alexandra Kaul

Alexandra Kaul is a writer and anthropologist. Her work focuses on ecology and white supremacy in the Pacific Northwest and Germany. Her work has been featured in The Georgia Review, the Society for Cultural Anthropology’s Fieldsights series, and Tendon Magazine. 

She also serves as Poetry Editor for Tendon Magazine and a Contributing Editor for the Society for Cultural Anthropology’s Online Section. She holds a Bachelor's degree in Anthropology and Political Science from UC Berkeley, and a Master's degree in Anthropology from The University of Chicago. 

Valentine Bentz

Valentine Bentz is an organizer, writer and archivist. Experiences within the student movement at the University of Oregon, including facilitating general assemblies within the 2024 Gaza Solidarity Encampment, organizing the historic UO Student Workers-UAW 8121 first contract, and rebuilding the Grove Community Garden led him to produce and edit A People’s Guide to the UO — a tour guide that builds spatial understandings of power at the university. He is deeply invested in popular education, especially as it relates to restoring collective memory. He holds a B.S. from the University of Oregon in Indigenous, Race and Ethnic Studies. 

Myna Bird

Myna Bird (they/them) is an organizer and movement archivist, currently recording oral histories and writing about the Palestine encampment movement. Their time as an organizer has mostly been an experiment in gathering other organizers, including at campus coalition meetings and celebrations, the 2024 UO Palestine Convention, and the 2026 Decolonial Philosophies & Global Justice Conference. They are interested in critical geographies and abolitionist world-making and have explored these as a researcher and writer of A People’s Guide to the University of Oregon and co-founder of the Community Accountability Project, which attempts to intervene in movement fracturing with conflict facilitation and workshops.

Support Team

Kouross Esmaeli

Kouross Esmaeli provides support for DemocracyNow!, He is a CRL board member, filmmaker, educator, and activist and will be supporting from afar.

Stephanie Hunter

Stephanie Hunter is the Lane County field organizer for the Rural Organizing Project. ROP will help with mapping exercises and developing community organizing skills.

Spring 2026 Restoration Forestry Internship

The Center for Rural Livelihoods (formerly Aprovecho) has been a leader in sustainable living for half a century. Our 40-acre campus, outside Cottage Grove, Oregon, is a living laboratory for agroforestry, habitat restoration, ecological forestry, natural building, appropriate technologies and grass-roots organizing.

CRL’s Restoration Forestry program is focused on supporting the emergence of a new forestry in the region - one focused on rekindling community wellbeing while regenerating the landscapes in which we live. This internship is meant to help participants hone their land stewardship skills in a hands-on environment, supported by our staff and guest teachers, while coming together to envision ecological land stewardship that supports rural livelihoods.

Interns will have the opportunity to hone their skills and experience in:

  • Process-based restoration practices

  • Regenerative food production

  • Ecological forestry

  • Permaculture

  • Natural building 

  • Agroforestry

This program is designed to provide an experiential introduction; you won’t master these arenas, but you will have a thorough understanding of them by the end of the program.

To learn more about CRL’s vision and strategy for restoration forestry, click here.

Logistics

  • The internship program will run for 8 weeks, from April 26 to June 20, 2026.

  • There is no cost for attending this internship. Room and board are provided.

  • Interns will work on the land for 4 hours per day, 4 days per week, with an additional weekly field trip (which will also involve hands-on land stewardship work at the field site). Time will be available also to pursue independent inquiry and projects related to the internship themes.

  • Shared housing and food will be provided in CRL’s strawbale dormitory. There are also ample campsites and spaces for vehicle-camping for those who prefer this option.

  • Interns will be responsible for their own cleaning and cooking. There is a shared laundry facility on-site.

  • We are located approximately 15 minutes from downtown Cottage Grove. Public transportation into town is not available, so we highly recommend you bring a vehicle (or a bike), or coordinate with other interns to share vehicles.

  • Cell phone and internet connectivity are limited on campus, but wifi is typically available in our Community Meeting Hall.

  • Be prepared for all weather and lots of time outdoors! Bring sturdy boots, rain gear, and clothing for working in heavy brush and forest terrain.

Rules and Expectations

  • Interns are expected to work for 4 hours per day, 5 days per week, which includes the weekly field trip to another nearby site.

  • Interns are expected to live on-site for the duration of the internship. 

  • Our campus is on a fairly steep incline, and land stewardship work on-site can be physically rigorous. Interns are expected to be able to lift 50 pounds, and to be able to walk around the property comfortably.

  • Pets, apart from service animals, are not allowed.

  • Smoking, including cannabis, is allowed in the center circle of the parking lot, and at the fire pit in the garden (with consent of others around). Alcohol and cannabis may be consumed after work hours for those age 21 or older, with the consent of others around. Illegal drug use is not permitted.

  • Interns will be sent CRL’s Code of Conduct protocols to review prior to the start of the internship.

Restoration Forestry Internship Program Leaders

Drew Thomas

Drew is the program coordinator and an instructor for restoration forestry internship. He supports the day to day operations of the program and will be your “go to” person on site during your stay.

For more about Drew’s background, see his biography on our staff page.

Abel Kloster

Abel is the restoration forestry director and lead instructor for the restoration forestry internship. He oversees the scope, sequence, and implementation of curriculum and will be facilitating the weekly lectures.

For more about Abel’s background, see his biography on our staff page.