BLM Utah 2017 Youth Opportunities to Work on Conservation Projects on Utah Public Lands

The objective of this Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is to partner with qualified youth conservation corps to provide education and engagement opportunities for youth ages 16-30 by working on BLM conservation related projects. These projects will provide on-the-job experience in environmental education, community service and natural and cultural resource management and will expose the nationâ¿¿s young men and women to conservation related career fields and stimulate an appreciation for public lands. Projects made available under this NOFO are developed in collaboration with the BLM-Utah Youth Program State Lead and District/Field Offices with an emphasis on providing valuable training and mentorship opportunities to youth. The BLM-Utah is committed to connecting diverse youth to their public lands and natural and culture heritage through providing service projects, recreational experiences, and especially natural resource-based employment and educational opportunities, including scientific research. These projects provide the participants with real-world job skills training, education, mentorship and/or professional development, inspire interest in higher education /agency career paths and instill stewardship principles. The focused projects are organized: 1) in a crew-based format where the participants work collectively and intensely together; or 2) for small teams of collaborative individuals. In either case, participants should be directly supervised by trained and experienced crew leaders or staff from the partner organization. BLM conservation professionals will provide project guidance and mentor participants, but will not serve as direct supervisors.