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Helping kids and teens experience Yosemite’s wonders and create lasting connections with nature.

Yosemite’s future depends on its future champions. Your support can fund programs that inspire the next generation of park-lovers and public lands leaders by helping kids, teens and young adults get outside, explore and learn about the natural world, and participate in stewardship projects.

Current Projects

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Parks in Focus
Partner with youth-serving organizations to help Bay Area middle school students connect with nature and public lands through digital photography, hikes, and camping trips. Parks in Focus is a Udall Foundation program.
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Adventure Risk Challenge
Help teens from underserved California communities connect with nature and build academic skills through the two-year Adventure Risk Challenge (ARC) Community Leadership Program, which includes a summer course in Yosemite and the Sierra Nevada.
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WildLink
 Expand access and opportunity in public lands for local, underserved youth through wilderness expeditions, stewardship projects, leadership trainings, family weekends, and park-focused career exploration. WildLink is a NatureBridge and NPS program.
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Expanding Horizons
Connect 200+ fourth grade students from Yosemite’s gateway communities with the park’s natural wonders through virtual pre- and post-visit sessions and an in-person, full-day excursion in Yosemite.
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Junior Rangers
 Inspire future stewards through year-round Junior Ranger programming, including ranger-led walks and talks, free workbooks, and the expansion of creative, bilingual programs to ensure that all Junior Rangers feel welcome in Yosemite.
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Yosemite Leadership Program
Educate and inspire new environmental leaders through UC Merced–affiliated programs: an on-campus Wilderness Education Center, a two-year academic program, and summer internships in Yosemite.
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Through donor-supported youth programs, tens of thousands of children have earned their Junior Ranger badges, middle- and high-school students have immersed in the Yosemite Wilderness on camping and backpacking trips, undergraduates have learned about environmental leadership and completed prestigious internships with park professionals, and young adults have honed trail restoration skills in the ultimate outdoor classroom.

The impact of those programs doesn’t end when a hike, summer course or semester wraps up — many youth-program alumni have gone on to careers in public lands, including in Yosemite.

Areas of Focus

Thanks to supporters, we’ve provided over $152 million to Yosemite for more than 800 completed projects. Donor gifts help improve trails, restore habitat, protect wildlife, inspire the next generation of nature-lovers and more. Explore our funding areas to see current and past projects.