There’s still another month-plus left of winter on the calendar, but the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve has its eyes set on summer to a degree.
The preserve is now accepting applications for high school students to be involved in the Youth Conservation Corps. This is a summer employment program designed to have students ages 15-18 work and learn together on various projects, notably conservation and maintenance work, as part of an eight-week program at the preserve. Besides work on general maintenance, upcoming summer projects this year include trail and native prairie work, painting and participation in a survey about mussels.
There are several stipulations:
*Enrollees must be a permanent resident of the United States, its territories or possessions
*Participating students must have a Social Security number or have applied for one
*Participants must have a bank account
*There is no government housing available at the preserve
Students must also wear proper work clothing, including long pants and work shoes.
Applications can be emailed to deborah_haley@nps.gov or mailed to Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve, 2480-B Kansas Highway 177, Strong City ZIP 66869 by April 10.
