Opportunity Information: Apply for P18AS00050
This Notice of Intent describes a National Park Service (NPS) cooperative agreement funding opportunity to support a local youth employment and career-development program tied directly to hands-on natural and cultural resource management work at Saguaro National Park in Southern Arizona. The effort is organized under the Next Generation Ranger Corps (NextGen) concept and is carried out through an existing cooperative agreement (P17AC00171) between the NPS and Friends of Saguaro National Park (FOSNP). In practical terms, NPS provides the funding and park-based work setting, while FOSNP recruits, hires, and administers paid internships for youth from Tucson and surrounding communities, placing those interns into real park projects alongside NPS staff.
The program is designed to create paid internships for nine local youth interns who will serve as NextGen Rangers. Their core work focus is resource management, including work with native and invasive plants, while also rotating through or supporting a wider range of park management activities. The intent is not only to provide short-term employment, but to create a structured pathway for participants to build job-ready experience, explore conservation and public lands careers, and develop professional confidence. A major theme throughout the opportunity is expanding access for youth from under-represented areas of Tucson who may not have previously viewed National Park Service career tracks, or natural and cultural resource fields more broadly, as realistic or welcoming options.
A central public purpose of the project is economic opportunity and poverty alleviation through paid work experience for youth interested in conservation and public lands. Alongside wages and job experience, the internships emphasize transferable life and professional skills, including resume building, public speaking, community engagement, and participation in conservation projects on public lands. The opportunity also aims to deepen environmental literacy by having interns spend sustained time outdoors doing practical conservation work, and to motivate long-term stewardship by connecting youth to the natural resource protection needs of their own communities and the region. The project also frames its work as contributing to the generation and sharing of scientific knowledge and to improving public understanding of natural resources and conservation, in part through outreach and communication components.
Operationally, NextGen Rangers are placed within Saguaro National Park's Division of Resource Management. The interns are mentored by park biologist Don Swann and are expected to learn by working directly with Resource Management staff on active projects. The described activities span both natural and cultural resource management and may include high-elevation surveys for archaeological sites, work related to water resources, forest health monitoring, and rare plant efforts. Interns may also participate in citizen science projects connected to wildlife, saguaros, and other key park resources. In addition to field and technical work, the opportunity includes natural resource education, social media or public-facing communication, restoration work, and outreach, reflecting a goal of developing well-rounded early-career experience rather than training that is limited to a single task type.
The structure emphasizes mentorship, training, and progression. Interns are expected to receive training across the listed activities, along with cross-training and other professional development opportunities, so they can understand the breadth of natural and cultural resource careers within the National Park Service. Regular check-ins with the assigned mentor are part of the model, and interns are expected to report on their activities and accomplishments, reinforcing workplace habits like documentation, accountability, and communicating results.
From the funding opportunity data, this is a discretionary program administered by the Department of the Interior, National Park Service, using a cooperative agreement as the funding instrument, with the activity category listed as Natural Resources (CFDA 15.954). The opportunity anticipated a single award with an award ceiling of $53,828. The original posting dates indicate it was created on December 26, 2017, with an original closing date of January 5, 2018. Eligibility is broadly categorized as "Others" with additional eligibility details referenced elsewhere in the official posting, consistent with a partner-based delivery model where a specific nonprofit partner (FOSNP) plays a central role in recruitment and administration.
Overall, the opportunity is best understood as a community-centered workforce and stewardship initiative: it funds a partnership that hires Tucson-area youth into paid, mentored internships that directly support Saguaro National Park resource management priorities, while building participants' professional skills, exposure to public lands careers, and long-term connection to conservation and public service.Apply for P18AS00050
- The Department of the Interior, National Park Service in the natural resources sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "NOTICE OF INTENT: Local Youth Employment for Natural and Cultural Resource Management: Next Generation Ranger Corps Program (NextGen)" and is now available to receive applicants.
- Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 15.954.
- This funding opportunity was created on Dec 26, 2017.
- Applicants must submit their applications by Jan 05, 2018. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
- Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $53,828.00 in funding.
- The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 1 candidate(s).
- Eligible applicants include: Others (see text field entitled Additional Information on Eligibility for clarification).
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