Saguaro national park (sagu) and friends of saguaro national park (fosnp) will join together in a partnership for youth employment and economic opportunity in southern arizona, entitled the next…

The National Park Service (NPS) awarded a $107,426 cooperative agreement to the Friends of Saguaro National Park (FOSNP), a non-profit organization, to support the "Next Generation Ranger Corps" program under the Youth and Veteran Organizations Conservation Activities grant program (CFDA 15.931). This program recruits and hires local youth interns from the Tucson, Arizona area to be mentored by NPS staff within the Division of Resource Management at Saguaro National Park. The interns gain hands-on experience and training in natural resource management, conservation projects, visitor services, and essential life skills such as resume building, public speaking, and community engagement. The program aims to provide employment and career development opportunities for underrepresented youth, while also advancing the public's understanding of natural resource protection and conservation. The cooperative agreement has a performance period from February 15, 2024 to December 31, 2025.

Saguaro national park (sagu) and friends of saguaro national park (fosnp) will join together in a partnership for youth employment and economic opportunity in southern arizona, entitled the next generation ranger corps. Using funds from the national park service, fosnp will recruit and hire local youth interns to be mentored within the division of resource management in saguaro national park as next generation ranger corps members, hereafter referred to as a next GEN rangers. The purpose of this project is to cooperatively recruit and mentor youth from tucson and surrounding communities for paid fosnp internships. Participants will be mentored and work alongside NPS staff in all areas of park management in order to gain skills and experience which will benefit them in their long-term career or education goals, while also training in essential life skills including resume building, public speaking, community engagement, and conservation projects within public lands in southern arizona. This project addresses the public purposes of providing employment opportunities for youth interested in public lands and conservation, providing youth from under-represented areas of tucson opportunities to gain professional development in career tracks they may not have traditionally considered available to them, providing opportunities for youth to learn about the environment by spending time working on and completing conservation projects in national parks, motivating youth to become involved in natural resource protection of their communities and beyond by engage in hands-on experiences, gaining and disseminating new scientific knowledge, and assisting in the promotion and improvement of the public s understanding of natural resources and conservation.