Find Your Park! (Sally Jewell)

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell found her park at Mount Rainier. Have you?

Secretary Jewell Redux

Secretary Jewell tours the Paradise
weather station with park scientist
Rebecca Lofgren

Completely coincidental to my recent blog posting about Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell, the woman herself showed up outside my office less than a week later. She wasn't here to respond to my bit of journalism, but to talk with park staff about Climate Change, an issue that affects us pretty dramatically, with our 14,411-foot mountain and its 25 glaciers. Still, she made a point of poking her head in my door, shaking my hand (and yes, she remembered me from her visit to the park as a volunteer seven years ago), and asking me about our youth volunteer outreach.

You can read a couple of stories about Jewell's visit to Rainier here, and here.

So, President Obama, when are you stopping by? My door is open!

Secretary Sally Jewell: From Rainier to the State of the Union

Secretary Jewell volunteers with the Northwest
Youth Corps at Oaks Bottom Wildlife Refuge.
Photo by Matt Christenson/BLM Oregon.

Watching the President's State of the Union address last night, it was fun to see a familiar face sitting in the front row in the audience: Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell. Hers is a familiar face to Mount Rainier's volunteer and outreach programs for several reasons. For one thing, she's the only Secretary ever to have climbed Mount Rainier seven times! Admittedly, that's a high standard. But prior to becoming the Secretary of the Interior last spring, Jewell was a long-time Seattle resident and CEO of Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) headquartered there. Under her leadership, the business found many ways to support the park. REI employees have volunteered repeatedly, usually helping with trail maintenance projects. The company awarded a $20,000 grant to the Washington Trails Association, which helped maintain a partnership to engage volunteers in trail work at the park. When our outreach program created a program called "Camping Adventures with My Parents" (CAMP), REI donated some equipment items and rented others at discount rates. After the 2006 flood that devastated roads, trails, and campgrounds throughout Mount Rainier, local stores encouraged shoppers to donate to our recovery effort, and Jewell herself visited the park and pulled on work gloves to lend a hand. Jewell's son Peter also served as a volunteer climbing ranger at Mount Rainier for several years.

In her role as Secretary of the Interior, Jewell has championed youth engagement and volunteerism, and continues to lead by example, putting on the hard hat and working alongside crews at every opportunity. Who knows--someday we might talk her into returning to her old climbing grounds and working with us on, say, National Public Lands Day!

Secretary Jewell Announces $1 Million Private Funding Commitment to Advance Youth & Conservation Initiative

(January 8, 2014) WASHINGTON, D.C. – As part of an ambitious initiative to engage and employ the next generation through America’s great outdoors, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today announced a public-private partnership with American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. that will help reach Interior’s goal of providing 100,000 work and training opportunities to young people and veterans on public lands.

American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (AEO) announced an historic $1 million commitment to develop the next generation of outdoor stewards. The funding commitment is the first in AEO’s philanthropic history and is also the first pledge toward Jewell’s target of raising $20 million from private partners by 2017 to support the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps (21CSC).

The 21CSC, launched by the Obama Administration as part of the America’s Great Outdoors program, is a national collaborative effort to put America’s youth and veterans to work protecting, restoring, and enhancing America’s natural and cultural resources.

Jewell made the announcement today at the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial in Washington, D.C., in recognition of the Civilian Conservation Corps that President Roosevelt created over 80 years ago.

“What we’re doing today embodies the spirit of President Roosevelt’s CCC – coming together to put young people and veterans to work on our public lands which will instill a lifelong conservation ethic that not only benefits them, but our public lands and our country,” said Secretary Jewell. “American Eagle Outfitters has a long history of philanthropy, conservation and volunteerism and I applaud them for this unprecedented commitment to the youth initiative. This lays a strong foundation toward reaching our goal to provide positive experiences for young people and veterans on our public lands that offer both employment and meaningful connections to the outdoors.”

The $1 million dollars will directly support non-profit corps programs that provide work and training experience to young people and veterans on Interior’s public lands, such as the Student Conservation Association.

“American Eagle Outfitters is proud to support the conservation of public lands through America's youth,” said Helga Ying, Vice President of External Engagement and Social Responsibility, American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. “This public-private partnership is one close to our customers' hearts and directly reinforces our company's community engagement principles. Through this initiative, we are able to provide opportunities for students to work together to protect our planet and improve our country through a deeper connection to nature, civic engagement and community development.”

Already an initial group of nearly 100 organizations have been approved as partner organizations to stand up the 21CSC and provide work opportunities through supervised crews or small teams. In the coming months, the 21CSC National Council, made up of eight federal departments and agencies including the Departments of Agriculture and Interior, will focus on recruiting additional member organizations.

“Partners like American Eagle Outfitters' are critical to the Administration's efforts to conserve our public lands and to connect a new generation of Americans to the great outdoors,” said Tom Vilsack, Secretary of the Department of Agriculture. “We are grateful for this contribution to the 21CSC initiative, and look forward to continuing to build public and private sector support to grow this initiative and engage more young people and veterans in important conservation work.”

Jewell first outlined her youth initiative in a speech at the National Press Club in October where she emphasized the need to bridge the growing disconnect between young people and the great outdoors. The goals of Interior’s youth initiative for the next four years include:

Play: Interior will develop or enhance outdoor recreation partnerships in a total of 50 cities over the next four years to create new, systemic opportunities for outdoor play for more than 10 million young people.

Learn: Provide educational opportunities to at least 10 million of the nation’s K-12 student population annually. In addition to welcoming students into nature’s classroom, we are developing and strengthening new online education resources, to reach more students.

Serve: Engage 1 million volunteers annually on public lands, effectively tripling the numbers we have now. We know that many more people are interested in volunteering at national parks, wildlife refuges and public lands, but there are often insufficient staff resources to coordinate them. In order to achieve the volunteer goal, we will place a renewed emphasis on volunteer coordination and management.

Work: To develop the next generation of lifelong conservation stewards and ensure our own skilled and diverse workforce pipeline, Interior will provide 100,000 work & training opportunities to young people within our bureaus and through public-private partnerships. As part of this effort, we aim to raise an additional $20 million to support the youth work and training opportunities.

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More on this:

Watch "This Week at Interior" January 10, 2014

Secretary Jewell on the pioneering work of the Student Conservation Association

SCA President Dale Penny on the American Eagle - DOI partnership

Secretary Jewell Launches Ambitious Initiative to Expand Opportunities for Youth on Nation’s Public Lands

SAN FRANCISCO, CA – Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell today joined with local business, health, education, non-profit and conservation leaders in San Francisco to launch a national campaign to expand opportunities for youth on public lands. Today’s kick-off comes on the heels of Secretary Jewell’s major speech last week, in which she outlined conservation priorities for Interior, including an emphasis on fostering the next generation of environmental stewards, scientists, and natural resource managers.

“There is a growing disconnect between young people and the great outdoors – and it’s a gap that Interior has the power to help bridge,” said Secretary Jewell. “Through public-private partnerships and in conjunction with all levels of government, Interior will expand its efforts to pass on our nation’s rich conservation legacy and to inspire millions of young people to play, learn, serve and work outdoors.”

In the morning, Jewell hosted a roundtable discussion with local leaders in San Francisco to outline her vision and to hear what efforts are underway in the area to boost youth engagement and employment. Following the roundtable, Jewell participated in a service project with local youth conservation corps members at Crissy Field in Golden Gate National Recreation Area.

“San Francisco is really a model for what can be accomplished when it comes to leveraging public-private partnerships to connect young people to the great outdoors – whether it’s in the classroom, through volunteer work, or with a job working on public lands,” Jewell added. “Through this initiative, we hope to expand that success around the country, so that young people and veterans can not only accomplish meaningful work and gain important professional skills, but they can also build a lifelong connection to the outdoors.”  

The goals of Interior’s youth initiative for the next four years include: 

• Play: Interior will develop or enhance outdoor recreation partnerships in a total of 50 cities over the next four years to create new, systemic opportunities for outdoor play for more than 10 million young people.
  
• Learn: Provide educational opportunities to at least 10 million of the nation’s K-12 student population annually. In addition to welcoming students into nature’s classroom, we are developing and strengthening new online education resources, to reach more students.
  
• Serve: Engage 1 million volunteers annually on public lands, effectively tripling the numbers we have now. We know that many more people are interested in volunteering at national parks, wildlife refuges and public lands, but there are often insufficient staff resources to coordinate. In order to achieve the volunteer goal, we will place a renewed emphasis on volunteer coordination and management. [Emphasis added]
  
• Work: To develop the next generation of lifelong conservation stewards and ensure our own skilled and diverse workforce pipeline, Interior will provide 100,000 work & training opportunities to young people within our bureaus and through public-private partnerships. As part of this effort, we aim to raise an additional $20 million to support the youth work and training opportunities.

Youth engagement has been a signature part of President Obama’s conservation agenda, and today’s initiative will build upon the ongoing partnership with USDA and other members of the federal family through the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps (21CSC). The 21CSC, launched as part of the America’s Great Outdoors program, is a national collaborative effort to put America’s youth and veterans to work protecting, restoring, and enhancing America’s natural and cultural resources. The 21CSC engages young Americans aged 15-25, and veterans up to age 35. 

An initial group of 91 organizations has been recognized for their commitment to the principles that the 21CSC embodies. All partner organizations have agreed to offer job and training opportunities to young people and veterans in America’s great outdoors.

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