When President Obama recently called on federal agencies to help young people find more work in the great outdoors, the U.S. Forest Service – with 193 million acres of prime outdoor space —responded quickly with jobs for hundreds of underserved youths.
The America’s Great Outdoors: Developing the Next Generation of Conservationists initiative will fund 20 projects, providing more than 500 young people with the experience of a lifetime working on public lands this summer work season. The Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation recently announced $3.7 million in competitive grants through the initiative.
“This program is putting youth to work and making our nation’s public lands more accessible,” said Agriculture Sec. Tom Vilsack. “With 80 percent of our country now living in urban areas, it is through partnerships like these that we are finding opportunities for Americans to work, live and play on our forests and grasslands and experience America’s Great Outdoors.”
From The USDA Blog: https://blogs.usda.gov/2012/05/25/forest-service-lines-up-500-jobs-for-young-conservationists/