BLM-AZ Phoenix District Office (PDO) Youth Conservation Grant

A. Eligible Applicants: Anyone

B. Cost Sharing or Matching: Youth Corps Program 25% The BLM will pay no more than 75% of each project.

Youth organizations are to provide youth or teams of youth to work side by side with BLM AZ Phoenix District Office (PDO) and other Public Lands administered by the BLM within the district. Teams or individual youth that will work side by side with the BLM to assist with conservation, restoration, and other natural resource management projects. Each youth corps team usually consists of a project leader and youth corps members.

On the part of BLM, the program is a continuation of similar projects conducted under cooperative agreement L13AC00103, “BLM-AZ Trail Development and Maintenance.” The partner in this referenced program, the “Southwest Conservation Corps,” has recently re-organized into the “Arizona Conservation Corps.” This non-governmental, non-profit organization employs youth interested in obtaining work experience and educational opportunities in natural resource management. Work typically includes such projects as trail maintenance, route signing, collection and removal of trash and debris left by recreation and illegal drug smuggling, restoration of public lands damaged by illegal and cross country vehicle travel, and tree and brush removal.

Project Objective:

The principle purpose of this agreement is to provide young adults a safe, educational job experience to better prepare them for entering the workforce and by exposing them to a variety of work experiences, basic skills training and a structured work environment about public land resources. This will provide long-term benefits by providing academic and environmental education opportunities for young adults.
The type of work will differ from site to site while working side by side with BLM staff and may include: restoration activities; trail assembly and maintenance; recondition old BLM roads; campground maintenance; desert clean-ups; removal of trash, fabricate and landscaping debris, abandoned vehicles, and other items on public lands; wildlife and fisheries habitat restoration; fuels reduction; seed collection; sediment and erosion control; user education and outreach; maintenance of water developments; fence and barrier installations; removal of range fences; installation of route signing; route closure and restoration; inventory of plants and wildlife; cultural site recordation, identify land status; stabilization and rehabilitation of areas damaged by wildland fires; reclaim and restore arid lands or other sensitive ecosystems damaged by off-highway vehicle use, recreational activities, and mining operations; repair and maintenance on informational kiosks and interpretive signs; work with volunteers to monitor sites.
The youth organization will provide all the necessary motor vehicles, trailers, equipment, tools, and other field supplies for the youth corps teams. They must have their own fleet of motor vehicles and trailers to transport youth corps members, equipment, tools and field supplies to the work sites. The organization will also be expected to provide all the materials, supplies, traditional tools, (shovels, loppers, brush saws, cross-cut saws, Pulaski axes, McLeod rakes, fire rakes, picks, rock bars, etc.) camping gear (tents, sleeping bags, cooking supplies, etc.) food and other field supplies needed for teams to be effective on the job.