Engaging Youth with Nature

To enable Saguaro National Park to fulfill its mission as educator, and connect youth to nature, the NPS and Friends of Saguaro have developed a diverse array of innovative resource conservation and environmental education activities for young people.

Curriculum-focused field trips to the Park engage youth of all ages in hands-on activities that allow them to explore and discover the significance of the Park's resources and be introduced to the national park system and its conservation mission.

Ranger visits to classrooms augment in-class teaching with a variety of age-specific programs.

Hiking Clubs are an educator-led enrichment activity meant to foster healthy outdoor recreation, spark curiosity for learning, and build stewards of public lands. Our collaborative goal with the Park is to provide Tucson youth a free, fun, and engaging outdoor experience that establishes a life-long relationship between themselves and the park.

Cactus Rangers are an "experiential learning" (citizen science) activity - undertaking a variety of projects at the Park to help restore habitat, survey saguaros, or monitor wildlife.

Camps provide opportunities for local youth to get outside and learn about the Park in their backyard through educational and recreational experiences such as "art in the park camp," "explorer camp," and Junior Ranger Camp.

Eco-Discovery Program is for youth grades 9-12 who would like to explore careers in natural resource management and wildlife protection while gaining research skills to add to their resume.

And, Next Generation Rangers - student interns drawn from area colleges and universities - provide essential programmatic support for the Park, and a pathway to a potential NPS career for the interns.

Thanks to the generosity of our donors, critical financial support from Friends of Saguaro enables the park to extend these multi-faceted environmental education programs to more than 15,000 youth throughout the community each year.