YOUTH CONSERVATION TEENS SHARE SUMMER PARK EXPERIENCES

The Youth Conservation Program (YCP), Grand Teton National Park’s teen trail crew that is privately funded by Grand Teton National Park Foundation, will host a year-end event on August 3, 2010 at 7:00 p.m. in the Directors’ Room at the Craig Thomas Discovery and Visitor Center.  The twenty-one participants will share their stories and photographs of life on a national park trail team and will discuss what they learned about wilderness, stewardship, and the challenges facing national parks during their ten-week employment.  The public is encouraged to attend.


YCP was established in 2006 as a way to introduce 16 to 19-year-olds to nature while helping youth develop valuable work skills and a conservation ethic in a fun, hands-on way.   The June to August earn-and-learn program also creatively assists Grand Teton National Park with trail restoration, historic site repairs, and many other projects that improve a visitor’s overall experience in the park.  “We can’t think of any better way to engage young adults and help them become invested in our national parks,” Foundation President Leslie Mattson said.  “Teaching about wilderness, search and rescue, and many other aspects of public lands management, helps us groom the next generation of conservationists and supporters.”

This summer marks the fifth season of YCP, which attracts teens from across the country and is the precursor to a large-scale trail restoration campaign that will address degradation and erosion issues on the park’s most popular trails.  Forty applicants hoped to secure positions on the 2010 crew, but Foundation funding could only provide salaries and equipment for twenty-one, the largest YCP group to work in Grand Teton to date.  Typical projects include building and maintaining trails, revegetation projects, bear box installation, noxious weed removal, and bridge and fence building and repair.

Mattson said the marriage of teens and trails occurred because there was no other program like YCP in the community.  “We’d like to provide for every teen who wants to work for the good of the park,” she said, adding that the number of teens, and in turn, the amount of work that can be accomplished, is directly related to the funding the Foundation can raise in any given year. 

YCP is part of Grand Teton’s Youth Engagement Initiative, an umbrella of youth programming that offers an escalating ladder of positive outdoor experiences.  “The goal is to keep young people involved in wilderness and Grand Teton until they make career decisions,” Mattson said.  “Youth will continue to be a priority for us.  We believe they are the future of parks and other public lands.”

Anyone interested in attending the August 3, 2010 event should contact the Foundation at jocelyn@gtnpf.org or 307-732-0629.