This summer, over 60 Portland youth participated in YEI’s forestry work experience programs, with the overall goal of gaining forestry skills and outdoor experience through conservation and restoration projects. The Portland Youth Explorers (PYE) program engaged 34 youth ages 14 to 16 and the Urban Rangers program supported 28 youth ages 16 to 24. The Urban Rangers program focuses on developing job skills through exposure to careers in the forest industry, paid work experiences and increasing knowledge about our environment. The PYE program expands on this directive and gives youth the opportunity to earn one high school credit through classroom and hands-on instruction, weekly field trips (including horseback riding, kayaking, geo-caching and caving) and a week long backpacking trip at the end of the summer in the Wallowa Mountains.
This was the third year of the summer forestry work experience program. Partners include US Forest Service, Oregon State Parks, Urban League and Bureau of Land Management, with the majority of funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Additional partners this year include Big City Mountaineers, which provided the backpacking trip to our youth, and Oregon Active, which organized the weekly field trips.
