Anchorage's teen parks program wins Partners in Conservation Award

When I was in high school, it wasn't uncommon for teachers to begin the school year by asking us to tell the class what we'd done over summer vacation. The answers usually ranged from sedentary ("I watched 150 episodes of "Ren and Stimpy") to altruistic ("I volunteered at church camp") to industrious ("I worked at Jay Jacobs"; "I did a lot of halibut fishing"). I don't recall anyone ever coming back to school with a tale about having been honored by the U.S. Department of the Interior. But that's the story a few dozen local students will be able to tell when school starts later this month.

Youth Employment in Parks, a program that provides Anchorage teenagers opportunities for summer employment in municipal parks and recreation programs, has been awarded the Department of the Interior's Partners in Conservation Award. The Anchorage Park Foundation and the Anchorage Parks and Recreation Department planned to accept the award at a press event Monday afternoon at Westchester Lagoon.

This summer, YEP offered paid positions to 31 teenagers, some of whom have staffed free neighborhood arts and recreation programs and others of whom have worked on a variety of conservation projects, including bank restoration at University Lake, removal of spruce bark beetle-infested trees from Far North Bicentennial Park, and trail building and repair projects at several area parks. You can check out photos of this summer's YEP activities on the program's blog and Facebook page.

The Partners in Conservation award was "established to recognize conservation achievements that include collaborative activity among a diverse range of entities," according to the Department of the Interior's website. Last year, two Alaska projects were among the nationwide winners (honored at a reception that included a keynote address by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar): The Rat Island eradication effort and the Southwest Alaska Salmon Habitat Partnership, a union of more than 70 companies, agencies, Native corporations and communities supporting salmon habitat conservation in Southwest Alaska.

Good luck topping that what-I-did-on-my-summer-vacation story.

Scott Kugel/Anchorage Park Foundation photo

Representatives of the Anchorage Park Foundation and the Anchorage Parks and Recreation Department gathered with YEP participants at Westchester Lagoon to accept the Department of the Interior's Partners in Conservation award Monday.

Contact Maia Nolan at maia(at)alaskadispatch.com.