Six Student Rangers Training at Yosemite This Summer with Help from Morgan Stanley Donations

Using funds provided by employees of Morgan Stanley’s New York office, Yosemite National Park is playing host to six culturally diverse college students being trained as environmental educators and stewards and to assist rangers in the field this summer. The student intern program is sponsored by the nonprofit Yosemite Association (YA) and is administered in cooperation with the University of California Merced and the National Park Service.

Hoping to better serve the diverse population of the Central Valley of California, the park and the university have worked together to build outreach programs specifically targeting outstanding minority students. The selected students, supervised and coached by park rangers, perform a variety of assignments in the park.

After extensive training by park and university staffs, they assist scientists, offer visitor services such as interpretive walks and campfire programs, hike the backcountry providing information and guidance to fellow hikers, and conduct boat patrols on park lakes offering information and general assistance.

The interns live in housing supplied by the park and maintained by the Yosemite Association. They receive a small stipend, uniforms, books, and (upon successful completion) a $2,000 scholarship, all provided by the association. Through the generous support of corporations, businesses, and individuals, the park was able to provide internships for six students in 2005.

Students who have completed the program unanimously agree that the experience is life-altering. These interns will be the next generation of knowledgeable, committed stewards, returning to their communities as advocates for Yosemite and other natural areas. What this program does is invaluable for the interns, the National Park Service, Yosemite, the state of California, and our national parks.

YA would like to increase the number of students served (its goal is 25 interns each summer), and Yosemite, its staff, and its visitors would greatly benefit from the help extra students could provide. Two houses, owned by the park and managed by YA, are being rehabilitated and turned into dormitories so that additional students can be accommodated, but the program is still under-financed and growth is coming slowly.

Employees of Morgan Stanley made over $8,000 in contributions to this program in 2005. If you are interested in making a tax-deductible contribution to help this important educational program expand, donations will be gratefully accepted. It takes only $3,000 to sponsor one student intern/ranger for a summer! Visit www.yosemite.org/helpus/donations.html to learn about ways you can help.

About the Yosemite Association

Founded in 1923, the non-profit Yosemite Association uses its revenues to support education, museum, research and environmental programs in Yosemite through donations to the National Park Service.

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