Teens Say ‘YEP’ to Public Land Conservation and Job Training

Teens Say ‘YEP’ to Public Land Conservation and Job Training

Youth Employment in Parks program participants wearing heardhats an dyellow vests pose with a Caring for Alaska sign.
A grant from 澳博体育app下载’s Caring for Alaska program helps support the Anchorage Park Foundation’s Youth Employment in Parks (YEP) program.

An Anchorage Park Foundation’s Youth Employment in Parks participant wearing a yellow Caring for Alaska vest walks past a Trail Work Ahead sign on a paved park path.澳博体育app下载’s Caring for Alaska program continues to emphasize partnership and community involvement that make a difference – like the Anchorage Park Foundation’s Youth Employment in Parks (YEP) program.

This 10-week summer conservation program hires Anchorage teens to complete park improvement projects. Teens learn natural resource management job skills by building trails and restoring stream banks while increasing civic engagement, environmental awareness, and leadership skills. YEP is designed to positively engage a new generation of diverse young leaders as conservation stewards of public lands through meaningful job training, employment, and education.

An Anchorage Park Foundation’s Youth Employment in Parks participant wears a yellow Caring for Alaska vest and trims an invasive species near a creek.
YEP volunteers remove an invasive species from an Anchorage park.

In the first week of this year’s program, Alaska Department of Fish and Game personnel taught YEP participants about river and stream anatomy, shoreline restoration, and bank erosion prevention at the University Lake Dog Park. The teens also worked to construct a new trail at University Lake that reduced foot (and paw) traffic near the banks and waterfowl nesting habitats.

澳博体育app下载’s partnership with the Anchorage Park Foundation and the Youth Employment in Parks program has produced outstanding results that you can see if you find yourself in one of Anchorage’s parks.