News Release

Youth Conservation Corps Employs Local Teens at Petrified Forest National Park

to right: Denessa Begay, Elenor Hansen, Riley Quinn, Emery Yazzie, Kardell Morris, Ezekial Knight, Skyler Joe, Ephriam Benally, AZCC Mentor Nataani Jacques, AZCC Mentor Nathan Pimienta Bottom left to right: Park Guide Victoria Philpott, Ria Barela, Alisa

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News Release Date: August 15, 2024

Contact: Sarah Hervé, 928-241-4174

Every summer, Petrified Forest National Park hosts a crew of local youth through Youth Conservation Corps (YCC). The YCC program provides jobs for youth interested in working with national parks and other public lands.

Twelve Youth Conservation Corps participants worked with multiple departments in the park to improve wildlife habitat, preserve archaeological sites, assist in the removal of a large fossil, eradicate invasive plant species and plant native plant seeds, remove old fencing, and refine an existing path to assist visitor navigation to the Painted Desert Visitor Center. The YCC crew also worked in groups to develop and present programs for park visitors.

A long-standing tradition of the Petrified Forest National Park’s YCC program is to provide educational field trips (sometimes including service projects) to other public lands in Northern Arizona. This year, Park Guide, Victoria Philpott, coordinated educational experiences that included camping trips and day trips, in Petrified Forest National Park, Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site, Canyon De Chelly National Monument, the Fossil Creek unit of the Coconino Forest, McHood Park, and the City of Holbrook Library Community Garden (followed by swimming at Holbrook community pool).

 Special thanks to Canyon De Chelly National Monument and Hubbell Trading Post National Historic Site Park Rangers, Ravis Henry, and Alvis Burbank for welcoming the crew, taking them on hikes and sharing stories of their parks’. Special thanks also to United States Forest Service Ranger, Becca Miller, for providing the opportunity for the teens to experience the beauty and fragility of the Fossil Creek area. “The crew this summer were hard working and deeply engaged in learning.” Said Park employee and YCC lead, Desiree Dyer “and the educational field trips [Park Guide] Victoria Philpott made possible raised the bar for future YCC experiences”. 

Weeding and planting seeds as part of a vegetation restoration project in the North Complex of the Petrified Forest NP.

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Aerating the ground for the vegetation restoration project in the North Complex of the Petrified Forest NP.

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YCC crew members Skyler Joe, Kardell Morris, and Elenor Hansen give a presentation about fossils.

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YCC crew members Ezekial Knight, Elena Philpott, and Alisa Johnson presentation about petrified wood.

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Hike in Petrified Forest National Park. Left to right: Park Intern Nizhoni Torres, Ephriam Benally, Alisa Johnson, Park Guide Victoria Philpott, Elenor Hansen, Denessa Begay, Park Ranger Desiree Dyer, Ria Barela, AZCC Mentor Nathan Pimienta, AZCC Mentor Nataani Jaques, Elena Philpott, Susannah Roberts, Kardell Morris, Ezekial Knight, Emery Yazzie, Riley Quinn, and Skyler Joe.

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Hiking in Canyon De Chelly National Monument.

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Cleaning up at the Holbrook Public Library Community Garden.

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