Summary of project specific activities: recruit, train, mentor and provide career counseling in public lands natural resource conservation for three local camp mentors

Employ the mentors during summer camps as mentors and guides to younger youth enrolled as cohorts. Local camp mentors will receive at least two weeks of training prior to engagement with the enrollee cohort group in the summer 2022 and receive refresher training prior to the 10-week summer 2023 session. Engage local camp mentors in the after-action reviews of the one-week summer cohort session and engage members in the development of future curriculum. Establish and conduct a one-week pilot conservation camp for 25 youth aged 12-15 during the summer 2022. Gain valuable and diverse curriculum development input from both camp mentors and the enrolled camp youth for the development of a 10-week summer camp for a cohort of 25 local youth aged 12-15 during the summer 2023. Performance goals including milestones and expected outcomes: 1) create a program of conservation education and traditional local knowledge for the engagement of youth aged 12 to 15 during the summer months, providing opportunities to participate in using gained knowledge on appropriate conservation projects on eligible service land. 2) employ 3 young adults (recent high school graduates and/or college-aged young adults) from the community to be youth mentors to gain professional experience, be exposed to career opportunities on public lands, and pass knowledge on to a younger generation. Beneficiaries: beneficiaries are the 25 person youth cohort who learn conservation techniques on public lands, cohort mentors who will learn valuable leadership and counseling skills while working with younger aged youth as well as be exposed to careers in land and resource management, the project public lands, and both community residents and visitors who travers the public lands.