Ashland Watershed Youth Training & Employment Program

About the Program

Spend Your Summer Making A Difference!

Each summer, Lomakatsi Restoration Project invites juniors and seniors from Medford, Central Point, Phoenix, Talent and Ashland area high schools to apply for employment to gain hands-on training and educational experiences in ecological restoration and ecosystem management. Put on your boots and gloves and get to work restoring the forests and streams of southwest Oregon.

Get Employed!
During this four-week intensive, program participants will be employed by Lomakatsi’s hands-on workforce training and environmental education program. Selected students will be paid competitive hourly wages to conduct work projects four days per week.

Gain Valuable Workforce Experience!
Under the guidance of Lomakatsi’s professional workforce trainers and guest natural resource specialists, participants will take part in stewardship-related activities that include ecological restoration, technical forestry, botany, invasive species management, ecological monitoring, fire ecology, stream restoration, watershed management, wildlife habitat restoration, trail maintenance, soil science, and more. Engaging in positive work experiences and teamwork development, program participants will develop professional skills, a sense of responsibility and self-sufficiency, a long-term community service and stewardship ethic, knowledge and increased interest in natural resource academic study, and the ability to obtain future employment in natural resource management. Participants will also gain exposure to STEM subjects (i.e., Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), which have been identified as being paramount to our nation’s ability to remain innovative and competitive in the years to come.