This residential youth program, operated in partnership with the Student Conservation Association (SCA), allowed 19 teenagers, many of whom had never camped, backpacked or visited a national park, to spend a summer living and working in Yosemite.

Your support in 2015 provided this diverse group of young people (ages 15-18) with an immersive program that combined environmental and professional learning experiences with large-scale stewardship projects. The participants explored public-lands careers with Yosemite’s skilled workforce, while restoring trails around Glacier Point, removing invasive species and social trails in Mariposa Grove, and helping out with the park’s songbird research program. Over the course of three months, they contributed more than 3,200 hours of stewardship service to the park while gaining valuable hands-on experience and exposure to careers in the natural world.

Your gifts helped youth support important restoration projects and take a key step toward becoming life-long environmental stewards.

Completed in partnership with Yosemite National Park and the Student Conservation Association (SCA).

Shauna Potocky

Director of Education and Youth Program

Project Notes

This program provides high school youth with experience living and working in Yosemite, while building valuable professional development skills, becoming stewards of public lands, engaging in a robust series of environmental and professional learning programs. Program participants are competitively selected from youth who have already participated in stewardship and education projects in their local communities, bringing a motivation and desire beyond traditional participants.