Rails to Trails Conservancy
My work is interesting and my workplace is enjoyable. I'm interning at Rails-to-Trails, the main goal of which is to expand the wedge of the federal financial pie allotted to "transportation enhancements," i.e. greenways, bike trails, canals, etc. They've been relatively successful - alternative transportation wasn't part of the federal highway legislation until 1991; since then, in large part because of the lobbying of organizations like us, about $1.8 billion is earmarked for transportation enhancements. I'm presently making a map of the congressional districts modified by the 2000 census. Around campaign time, RTT engages in politician-schmoozing quid-pro-quos: we find out which candidates for the House will potentially support our agenda, and then we call them and arrange a public-relations get-together at a reconstructed trail in the representative's district. RTT orchestrates and pays for the event, so the representative gets a PR windfall. In return, RTT gets about a half-hour of the representative's t ime; they use this to make their case for why RTT should receive federal funding. Tomorrow I'm going to a hearing on the hill by the house subcommittee on transportation and infrastructure. I'm going as a proxy for my supervisor, who will be out of town.