Deadline: 08-Feb-2025
The National Park Service with its Bringing Youth Outdoors Together and Environmental Steward Program will provide young people particularly youth from underserved communities in urban, rural, military, and native settings with outdoor experiences and excursions to their local national park.
The Bringing Youth Outdoors Together and Environmental Program focus on youth development, recreation, service, social and environmental responsibility, and healthy living that emphasizes the value and significance of natural and cultural resources in nearby parks and communities. Centered on recreation, conservation and service, the program provides the following:
- Unique recreational opportunities
- Learning experiences in nature and history
- Service learning through simple, memorable work projects
- Exposure to career field offered by the National Park Service
Objectives
- The objective of this Agreement is to expand educational, service, and outdoor recreational opportunities for children, youth including active-duty military families’ members, on public lands and waterways and reinforce the recreational mission of the NPS.
Goals
- They develop the next generation of stewards of the public and cultural lands working with partners. The collaboration goals are:
- Connect young people to the outdoors through recreation, education, and volunteerism.
- Create opportunities for local communities to increase connections to the outdoors in partnership with local NPS units, non-profit partners, educational organizations, and state, local and tribal governments.
- Lay the groundwork for young adults to become the 21st-century stewards of the cultural, historical, scientific, and recreational legacies.
- Provide opportunities for youth to connect with natural, cultural, historical, and recreational resources within their local communities and through the use of technology.
- Exposure youth to job fields and leadership development opportunities via mentorship, volunteerism, internships, and employment within the NPS.
Focus Areas
- Types of programming opportunities offered should fit into four main focus areas for children and youth up to age 18 years old:
- Recreation: To connect more children, youth, and families, including active military and veterans and their families, NPS will develop or enhance outdoor recreation partnerships in communities across the country. NPS will support new and enhanced opportunities for outdoor recreation by working with non-profit partners, educational organizations, and state, local and tribal governments.
- Education: To increase outdoor educational opportunities, the NPS will partner with non-profit organizations, educational organizations, and state, local and tribal governments that have expertise in delivering such services.
- Volunteerism: To increase volunteerism on public lands, NPS will partner and coordinate volunteer opportunities on its lands and waters with non-profit organizations and industry that have a track record of working with volunteers.
- Career Exploration: The objective is to enhance awareness of diverse career fields within the National Park Service (NPS) and to provide teenagers aged 15 to 18 with exposure to potential pathways to these opportunities through summer employment and internship opportunities.
Eligibility Criteria
- State governments
- County governments
- City or township governments
- Special district governments
- Independent school districts
- Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
- Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities
- Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments)
- Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Nonprofits without 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education
- Private institutions of higher education
- Individuals
- For profit organization other than small businesses
- Small businesses
For more information, visit Grants.gov.