This project mentors youth in protecting and restoring public lands through engagement in habitat restoration activities

The Department of the Interior National Park Service Intermountain Region awarded a $199,999.95 Cooperative Agreement to Conservation Legacy under the CFDA 15.931 Youth and Veteran Organizations Conservation Activities program. The project will mentor youth in protecting and restoring public lands through engagement in habitat restoration activities at Wupatki National Monument in Flagstaff, AZ. Participants will receive training and education in the removal of non-native invasive plant species and the restoration of native plant species, utilizing chainsaws and herbicide. Conservation Legacy's Southwest Conservation Corps program will provide hands-on work experience, job training, and career development to the participants, fostering a sense of resource stewardship. The project runs from September 1, 2023 to December 31, 2026, fulfilling the program's objective of engaging youth and veterans in conservation work on public lands.

Participants will gain training and education in habitat restoration work that helps to protect resources and improve visitor experiences. Participants will accomplish meaningful work and gain important personal and professional skills while building a lifelong connection to the outdoors. Participants will be trained, educated, and mentored on the removal of non-native invasive plant species and help to restore native plant species to the deadman wash habitat.participants will receive training and education focused on the control of non-native plants and be engaged in the restoration of native plant species within the park. Participants will be mentored by NPS staff in these activities, receive a range of experiences and training that promotes public resource stewardship, and be motivated to become involved in natural resource protection and management. This work will contribute to the protection of sensitive resources and promote conservation education. Participants will utilize chainsaws and herbicide to kill non-native, invasive tamarisk, and camelthorn plants. Restoration efforts will involve the collection and RE-planting of native seed from within wupatki national monument. Native grasses and shrubs will be transplanted from healthy areas of the deadman wash habitat to recolonize areas where non-native invasive plants were removed. This project fulfills an important public purpose by engaging and motivating participants in shared resource stewardship, providing them with direct hands-on work experience in and on natural resources, and facilitates a greater understanding of natural and recreational aspects of conservation areas. By way of being mentored, participants will be provided with job training, career development, and education in the management of public lands. This experience is expected to foster an environment of learning and instill a sense of resource stewardship that will carry forth into the future.