Working at SUWA
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) staff is made up of passionate advocates working together to defend Utah’s redrock wilderness. We value autonomy, persistence, collaboration, and a hands-on attitude from our fellow team members.
We act with integrity, transparency, loyalty, and respect to each other and our mission. We’re proud to work for SUWA in no small part because our work matters. It matters for the canyons and mesas we seek to protect, as part of addressing the loss of nature and the extinction crisis, and in mitigating the harm from climate change.
We are the best at what we do: defending and protecting the redrock wilderness. Where feasible, we offer flexible work hours and considerable paid leave. But we also step up to do what is necessary to protect the redrock.
Current Openings
Location: Salt Lake City, Utah
Dates: Flexible — mid-May to mid-August
Application Deadline: February 27, 2026. Applications reviewed on a rolling basis until then.
Download Summer Law Clerk Job Description as a PDF
About SUWA
The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is dedicated to the preservation of the outstanding wilderness at the heart of the Colorado Plateau in Utah, and the management of these lands in their natural state for the benefit of all Americans. SUWA advocates for local and national recognition of the region’s unique character, and supports both administrative and legislative initiatives to permanently protect the wild places in Utah within the National Wilderness Preservation System.
SUWA’s legal staff litigate and advocate for durable public land conservation policies, focusing on a large array of issues including preventing fossil fuel development, promoting balanced travel and recreation management, and the protection of cultural resources.
Duties:
Summer law clerks have the opportunity to work with SUWA’s legal team on ongoing litigation and policy advocacy. Clerks may draft memos and litigation documents, complete legal research, and attend court proceedings and depositions.
Qualifications:
SUWA accepts applications from rising 2L and 3L students with preference for 3Ls. Course history or prior experience relevant to environmental, public lands, and administrative law is also preferred.
Compensation:
- The internship pays $7,000 for the summer with an expected 40 hours per week for 10 weeks from mid-May – mid-August in SUWA’s Salt Lake City office.
- SUWA does not provide housing in the Salt Lake area but can provide resources and advice for those relocating.
To Apply:
Email a cover letter, resume, writing sample, and unofficial law school transcript to Hanna Larsen at hanna@suwa.org by February 27, 2026. Applications will be reviewed and interviews offered on a rolling basis. No phone calls please. Find us at www.SUWA.org, on Instagram (@protectwildutah), and on Facebook (/SouthernUtahWildernessAlliance)
Benefits (full-time employees only)
- 15 days of paid vacation time (with increases yearly with tenure up to 20 days)
- 12 paid sick days annually
- 14 paid holidays, including a year-end office closure
- Employer-paid medical, vision, and dental benefits
- 2-month paid sabbatical every 5 years
- Flexible work days, depending on position
- Parental, bereavement, jury duty, and other leave
- Cell phone subsidy and travel reimbursements
- Access to outdoor gear pro deals
Ready to Apply?
When our team is looking for new staff members, we want to hear from you! Explore below to see what openings we currently have on SUWA staff. If none are available, consider signing up for our email list to hear about new open positions in the future.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at SUWA
The mission of the Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance is to defend and protect the wilderness at the heart of the Colorado Plateau and in Utah’s West Desert.
We are committed to the idea that our commonalities greatly outweigh our differences, and that the redrock is for everyone. Our mission is to protect the redrock for the wonder and enjoyment of all future generations, both human and non-human alike.
The lands we work to protect are the ancestral homelands of many Tribes, including those that were forcibly removed at the hands of the U.S. government in an effort to exterminate their cultures, languages, and ways of life. These injustices are still felt today, but the quest to erase the Tribes failed: indigenous communities continue their traditions and remain an integral part of the landscape and our community. We are committed to working toward understanding this history; to expanding present-day common ground, collaboration, and reconciliation with our Tribal neighbors; and to advocating that Tribes receive a seat at the table when others would exclude them.
The environmental movement has a regrettable history of excluding and oppressing marginalized people. We know that the redrock, humanity, and the future of the planet itself depend on working together to solve our greatest common threat: the climate crisis. As we face the challenges of the 21st century head-on, we recognize we can only do so by including, involving, and elevating Tribes, communities of color, people of diverse economic backgrounds, faith communities, the LGBTQ+ community, and the tapestry of experience that weaves together our common humanity. We are committed to doing this both within our staff and through our daily work to protect the redrock.
