Rocky Mountain Conservancy’s High School Leadership Corps (HSLC) hosted two sessions for 22 high school students in 2025. Each crew of 9 members and 2 youth mentors spent 10 days in Rocky Mountain National Park and the Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests working on various service projects such as trail maintenance, including bridge repairs; vegetation management; and fire fuels management, including constructing and burning piles with Rocky’s fire division. The 2025 HSLC staff consisted of Sasha Godsil, the program lead, and Owen Bass, the field coordinator.
Although most of the participants are from Colorado, “many of them don’t get the opportunity to access the park as some people may think,” said Godsil. The program provides opportunities for students of varied outdoor experience to work and learn in the park and be exposed to different career paths in conservation. “The amount of growth I see just in 10 days of being in the wilderness with these participants is more than I saw in an entire year in a classroom,” said Godsil.
“I want them to look back on this experience fondly,” said Godsil. “I want them to know that the park is not just for people who can afford lavish vacations, piles of gear, or plan their trip months in advance. The park is here for them just as it is for everybody else.”
The Conservancy’s High School Leadership Corps is made possible with support from sales of Colorado’s Rocky Mountain National Park specialty license plate, Athletic Brewing’s Two for the Trails grant program, WoodNext Foundation, and the National Forest Foundation and in collaboration with Poudre Wilderness Volunteers.
The Rocky Mountain Conservancy Conservation Corps is also about to wrap up another incredible season with 51 participants across 10 crews working in Rocky Mountain National Park, Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests, and other nearby public lands.
Participants from about 20 different states arrived in May with a wide range of outdoor skills and experiences, which Field Stewardship Manager, Dani Woods, said is what makes the Conservation Corps so special. “I love growth and development, it’s my favorite thing in the world,” said Woods. “Watching them go from these shy, intimidated individuals to truly confident people who have found a whole new part of themselves by working in the woods and have become a better version of themselves is what I always look forward to.”
Each crew will spend 11 weeks at their work sites restoring and maintaining trails such as the Longs Peak Trail, rehabbing burn areas from the 2020 Cameron Peak fire, clearing dead trees, maintaining and preserving historic sites in the park, planting in the park greenhouse and McGraw Ranch, rebuilding bridges, and building stone staircases, walls, and dams.
Woods was joined this season by a skilled stewardship staff of three field coordinators: Eli Bolick, Connor Neal, and AJ Lullo. “They care about our crews and care about getting more young adults into the field,” said Woods.
Thank you, Rocky Mountain Conservancy-Conservation Corps and High School Leadership Corps, for your hard work, dedication, and enthusiasm for conserving our parks and public lands!