Youth Conservation Corps
What is YCC? The Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) is a summer work youth program in federally managed lands. The National Park Service, US Forest Service, US Fish and Wildlife Service, and Bureau of Land Management employ teens each summer to participate in the YCC experience. The YCC has introduced young Americans to conservation opportunities in public lands since the program was created in 1970. Since its inception, the YCC has worked with many conservation agencies throughout the country to provide educational and team building skills to young people through participation in work projects. Yosemite YCC In Yosemite National Park, Youth Conservation Corps members live, work, learn, and grow in public lands restoring, rehabilitating, and repairing the natural, cultural, and historical resources protected as federally preserved places. Some examples of work completed in the past seasons are:
Normal work week consists of five eight-hour work days. Weekends are devoted to recreational activities such as day hikes, backpack trips, and field trips to interesting places. Enrollees are required to take part in all weekend activities. They are not allowed to go home on weekends. Selected enrollees are expected to make a commitment for the full eight weeks of the YCC program.
Young men and women, 15 through 18 years of age, who are permanent residents of the United States, its territories or possessions, are eligible for employment without regard to race, color, sex, age, handicap, religion, or national origin. Handicapped youth who can effectively participate in most YCC activities are eligible. Selected applicants must possess a Social Security card and have a work permit (if required). Youth must have no history of serious criminal or other antisocial behavior that might endanger their safety or that of others. Youth must be willing to work hard and be able to participate in most work projects and must not have participated in YCC for more than three weeks in the past. Employment is without regard to Civil Service or classification laws, rules, or regulations.
The Yosemite YCC is an eight-week residential program. The program begins the third Sunday in June and ends the second Friday in August. YCC enrollees work in partnership with Yosemite National Park and are paid the California minimum hourly rate of $8 per hour, with a deduction of $70 per week for room and board. The Yosemite YCC program is a full-time residential camp. There will be twenty-seven YCC enrollees selected to work on three individual crews. Enrollees will work on a crew with eight other enrollees while being supervised by their crew leaders. Every two weeks each crew will change location and begin work on a different project. Living quarters will range from dormitory style living to tent cabins to backcountry camps. How to Apply If you feel you qualify and want to spend the summer in the outdoors helping to preserve Yosemite National Park, fill out the application [PDF 53kb] and either mail it or E-Mail it to the addresses below. Applications must be received no later than March 31, 2013. Ten days after this date the applications will be separated into male and female piles; applications will then be randomly selected from each pile. Two weeks after applications have been selected all applicants will be notified by phone or E-Mail if they have or have not been selected. Contact Information Phone: 209/379-1235 Mail applications to: |
Did You Know?
In Yosemite Valley, dropping over 594-foot Nevada Fall and then 317-foot Vernal Fall, the Merced River creates what is known as the “Giant Staircase.” Such exemplary stair-step river morphology is characterized by a large variability in river movement and flow, from quiet pools to the dramatic drops of the waterfalls themselves.