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ASHEVILLE GREENWORKS
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LATEST NEWS

2016 Youth Environmental Leadership Program (YELP) Allows High School Students Opportunity to Explore Conservation in WNC

7/11/2016

 
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This summer we welcomed 20 young adults into our third year of the Youth Environmental Leadership Program (YELP), our largest group to date.  Over the course of eight weeks this summer, YELP interns work with three returning leaders from previous YELP 2015 and several local partners to learn how to track and monitor water quality, techniques for invasive plant removal, native tree planting, riparian zone restoration (the areas alongside riverbanks), habitat measurements and so much more. GreenWorks provides young people aged 15-19 years old with a paid internship experience that connects youth with their local environment. 

​This summer, YELP interns also complete a 15-hour "externship" with environmental professionals from local partner organizations and businesses, learning alongside our local conservation leaders while building employability skills and exploring potential career opportunities in environmental sustainability.  

“In the past I’ve spent moments with young people showing them the outdoors and the woods for a short time and later found out that their time with me inspired them to go into a different field entirely,” says Bob Gale, Ecologist and Public Lands Director at Mountain True. “I had no idea that in such a short amount of time I could have that influence.”
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Mountain True was one of four regional partners to work alongside YELP interns as part of their training, teaching them non-native plant identification and forestry techniques. The 17 interns and three returning students as program leaders, spent days in the field hands-on with:
  • Environmental Quality Institute, learning in-depth about water quality monitoring
  • Mountain True - learning non-native plant identification and removal
  • Clean Water for NC (CWFNC)—understanding environmental justice issues related to water quality and how to address water contamination
  • Altamont Environmental—developing a restoration project plan for the Hominy Greenway invasive removal site
“I like working with the youth and engaging them in the environmental side of things and letting them see that there are other options there are,” says Community Engagement Coordinator and YELP Coordinator Dewana Little. “ I love opening their eyes to community issues that impact the environment like litter and how it gets from the streets to our waterways and the storm system and educating them on where our water comes from. They were shocked to learn water comes from our local rivers and streams and that what we do in our own houses and yards impacts that.”
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After completing their training, interns presented their research and insights to each other. Several interns, for example, shared how they learned to identify, plot using GPS and inventory ash trees with Field Biologist Josh Kelly of Mountain True in the Pisgah National Forest.
 
“We focused on ash trees because there’s a non-native insect called the Emerald Ash Borer that is fatal to them and is affecting our area,” said Kelly. “We can save some ash trees but we need to know where they are and how many there are before we can start to think about saving them. For me it was a good first step toward developing a program for inventorying ash trees.”

Along with specific training in the areas listed above, interns also monitor six urban streams with us, conducting chemical and biological water quality sampling and clearing Trash Booms. To help spread the word about local water quality issues, YELP interns take part in several local river cleanups, one where they are asked to bring a friend from their neighborhood and show them some of what they had learned.

In partnership with the Appalachian Highlands Science Learning Center in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, YELP interns learn about water quality and climate change at Purchase Knob, participating in water quality monitoring of the headwaters of the French Broad River, searching for hellbender salamanders and studying microscopic tardigrades living at the base of lichens growing on trees in the park. Later this summer, interns will participate in a camping trip with GreenWorks staff and take a hike with GSMNP Superintendent Cash as part of the Smokies Centennial Challenge - Hike 100 to celebrate the 100th Anniversary of our National Park system.
 
We can’t thank our local and regional environmental partners enough for their support as this needed program continues to grow here in Western North Carolina. “This really builds them up, empowers them and allows them to make important decisions about their communities that they never have before,” says Greenworks Community Engagement Coordinator Dewana Little. “They’re building so many skills, lifelong skills. This program is making a difference in them personally.”


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​Asheville GreenWorks is a 501(c)3 non-profit environmental organization, governed by a Board of Directors. Established in 1973, GreenWorks mission is to inspire, equip and mobilize individuals and communities to take care of the places we love to live.
  • Hard 2 Recycle
  • Programs
    • Bee City USA Asheville >
      • Native Pollinator Plants and Nurseries
      • Pollination Celebration >
        • Pollinator Photo Contest
      • Pollinator Garden Certification
    • Rivers & Roads >
      • Adopt-a-Street
      • Clean Streams Day
      • Cleanup Supply Stations
      • Trash Trout
      • WNC Big Sweep
    • Education
    • Urban Forestry >
      • Adopt-a-Spot
      • Cool Green Asheville
      • Food Tree Project
      • RRI
      • Tree Nursery
      • Treasured Trees >
        • Treasured Trees Calendar
    • Waste Reduction >
      • Asheville Bag Monster
      • Composting Information
      • Flip Your Lid
      • Plastics Reduction Task Force
      • Recycling Information
      • Smash Don't Trash
  • Get Involved
    • Volunteer
    • Experiential Internships
    • Youth Environmental Leadership Program >
      • YELP Staff & Alumni
      • How to Apply
    • Make a Donation
    • Wish List
    • Sponsorship
  • Upcoming Events
  • About
    • Job Openings
    • History
    • Staff/ Contact
  • Newsletter
  • Blog Roll
    • Latest News
    • Protect our Pollinators
    • Voice for the Trees
    • Mind Your Plastic May
    • Fall Leaves