Yosemite Leadership Program and Wilderness Education Center

Project overview: 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.

How your support helps: National parks need the next generation of engaged supporters, advocates, and leaders — and champions who reflect the nation’s diverse population. In partnership with the University of California, Merced, the park is working to educate, inspire, and ultimately, employ new public lands leaders. Many UC Merced students come from populations that, historically, have been underserved by Yosemite and other parks; more than 70% are first-generation college students.

Three interconnected programs help link the park, UC Merced, and neighboring communities, while shaping the next generation of environmental leaders: 

• Student rangers based at the on-campus UC Merced Wilderness Education Center (WEC) help their community connect with Yosemite through educational resources, field trips, and stewardship projects. They also lead activities for thousands of local schoolchildren through the National Park Foundation’s Open OutDoors for Kids initiative. 
• The academic-year Yosemite Leadership Program encourages undergraduates to become lifelong stewards through four semesters of environmental studies, personal and professional development, and hands-on projects. 
• Through Yosemite Leadership Program (YLP) summer internships, college students spend 12 weeks working with professionals in the park, where they receive on-the-job training and complete projects that benefit Yosemite. This highly regarded program serves as a pathway to public lands careers for students who otherwise might not have the chance to visit or work in a national park.

Our donors have supported UC Merced–based programs since the early 2000s. With that steady investment, WEC staff has grown from one person to two full-time employees and up to 10 part-time student rangers. YLP, which began as a loose collection of experiences, has evolved into a cohesive 64-week curriculum. And the summer internship, which grew out of an early Yosemite Association program, has expanded to serve more students and has earned “Direct-Hire Authority” status, which facilitates graduates’ access to NPS jobs.

These programs have widespread, long-lasting impacts. They provide invaluable experiences for dozens of UC Merced students each year, and more than 5,000 Merced-area fourth graders have learned about Yosemite and the environment with WEC rangers. YLP students mentor participants in other Conservancy-supported youth programs. WEC rangers — who are often YLP internship alumni — explore careers while working in summer positions in Yosemite. Program graduates follow paths to full-time roles with the National Park Service and other public agencies. In Yosemite, you might run into former YLP and WEC students delivering educational programs, protecting visitors and resources, coordinating art workshops, and more.

This year: In 2023, program leaders are excited to embrace the expanded reach of virtual programs and to thoughtfully combine them with impactful, place-centered programs to reach our shared goals. They will continue to foster the next generation of thoughtful and educated stewards of Parks, wild places, the environment and the communities they call home.

Learn more about the Yosemite Leadership Program and Wilderness Education Center on the UC Merced website.

Project partners: Yosemite National Park; University of California, Merced; and Merced City Schools