Today's youth can gain an appreciation for national park settings through a variety of programs, including the Youth Leadership Adventures through the North Cascades Institute/Ethan Welty

Where will the next generation of national park stewards and advocates come from? Obviously, from today's growing youth who are able to make a connection, or connections, with the parks. One way to enable that connection is through the Youth Leadership Adventures offered through the North Cascades Institute.

This program, now open for enrollment, is designed for motivated high school students who seek a fun and challenging summer adventure in the North Cascades of Washington state. Conducted in partnership with North Cascades National Park and Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, the program features a range of summer opportunities for high school students on public lands, as well as a fall Youth Leadership Summit in Seattle, year-round mentorship and local stewardship opportunities. 

During summer expeditions, students canoe, backpack, camp and complete stewardship projects while receiving hands-on training in outdoor leadership, field science, communication skills and public speaking. No experience necessary and scholarships are available. 

If you want to support this program, donations can be made through this site.

Of course, as far-flung as the National Park System is, there are many other programs that can connect youth with national parks. Along with the North Cascades Institute, you have the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont, NatureBridge, the Yellowstone Association Institute, the Grand Canyon Field Institute, and other field schools that work in national park settings.

These nonprofit organizations offer programs that last anywhere from a day or two to a week or two, or even more, and in some of the grandest natural settings in the world: Yosemite National Park'™s iconic valley, the Inner Gorge of Grand Canyon National Park, the glaciated roof of North Cascades National Park, the tangle of forests in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, and North America'™s Serengeti, the northern sweep of Yellowstone National Park.