During the week of Aug. 9-12, participants in the Conservation Corps Summer Youth Program spent their days working on park stewardship projects at Hartley Nature Center in Duluth. The crew, made up of six high school-aged youth and two AmeriCorps leaders, spent their time working on trail maintenance, erosion control, invasive species removal and erecting trail map kiosks. In addition to their fieldwork, they also spent time on environmental education and mentoring a group of youth from a Duluth-area day camp.
The Conservation Corps offers various programs for young people to get hands-on environmental stewardship, personal development and natural resource management skills while serving throughout Minnesota in urban and wilderness settings. Participants in the Summer Youth Program come from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds and spend eight weeks of the summer camping and working at different outdoor sites. Through Conservation Corps, hundreds of youth and young adults receive training and field experience in a variety of settings for future education and careers in natural resources and environmental stewardship every year.
Submitted by Brett Amundson, public program coordinator at Hartley Nature Center in Duluth.
