An upcoming eight-week Youth Conservation Corps program offers an opportunity for employment, environmental education and outdoor recreation for youths 16 to 18 years old.
Participants will have the opportunity to work on a variety of conservation projects in Saguaro National Park and the surrounding region, said Cam Juarez, community engagement and outreach coordinator for the park.
Projects will include trail work, environmental restoration work, campground maintenance and resource management, Juarez said.
The program will run from June 4 through July 27 with a normal work week consisting of five, eight-hour work days. The deadline for submitting applications is April 30.
Twelve participants will be selected for the program. They will be paid a minimum wage of about $10 an hour.
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Most weeks, participants will arrive at Saguaro National Park Monday morning and return home Friday evening for the weekend. During the week, the young workers will camp out near their work site, which may be quite remote.
IT WON’T BE ALL WORK
“There will be a lot of opportunities to engage in different activities,†Juarez said. “They will engage in daily environmental education lessons that will teach them about the local ecology of Southern ÃÛèÖÖ±²¥ and larger environmental issues.â€
Participants “will also participate in various recreational outings including day hikes, backpacking trips, field trips and more,†he said. “YCC is not just a work program, it’s a chance to learn, play and grow in the natural world.â€
But the work element is a key part of the program.
“This is an opportunity to really expose kids to a sense of responsibility about public lands,†Juarez said. “They will become stewards of these public lands.
“The spirit of this program is that they actually will do work on these public lands,†he said. “They will be able to look back later and say, ‘I helped build this trail.’â€
