As graduation looms for the high school class of 2024, some of those students and others in their immediate age group have an opportunity to examine potential future careers in conservation.
For more than 20 years the Conservation Federation of Missouri has brought together young people with a passion for the outdoors and introduced them to career fields that include woods, water, forest and fauna.
Applications for the next Conservation Leadership Corps program are due April 30. Eligible students include high school sophomores through college sophomores who live or attend school in Missouri. The goal of the program is to have students participate for at least two years.
The online application requires students to answer short essay questions about their personal interest in outdoors and conservation, and how the leadership corps is an important part of the work the federation does in advocating for legislation that protects natural resources.
Those accepted into the program will be notified by June 1 and invited to attend a fall workshop, usually held at Lake of the Ozarks State Park. In addition to meeting other members of the leadership corps, participants will study the resolution writing process and learn about how legislation is supported.
Students also will participate in the federation’s annual convention, where they will present their work to the members in attendance. Other volunteer opportunities include workdays at a conservation area and fund-raising events, like sporting clay shooting, throughout the state. The year ends with a weekend float trip and stream cleanup that combines fun and stewardship on a Missouri waterway.
Throughout all of the events, students will meet and interact with leaders and staff from the state Department of Conservation, Department of Natural Resources and other environmental support organizations. Those networking introductions can become gateways to internships and future employment opportunities.
For more information and to access the application, visit confedmo.org/clc or call 573-634-2322 to reach the CFM office in Jefferson City.
The Festus Crystal City Conservation Club is one of more than 100 organizations affiliated with the federation. Those groups throughout the state have policies in line with the CFM mission: “To ensure the conservation of Missouri’s wildlife and natural resources, and preservation of our state’s rich outdoor heritage through advocacy, education and partnerships.”
The CFM was founded in 1935 to establish the state Department of Conservation as a non-political agency dedicated to the restoration and protection of natural resources. In 1976 the organization led the effort to establish the one-eighth cent sales tax that provides broad-based funding for the department.
Other familiar projects that the organization supports include the Share the Harvest program, which this past year donated almost 250,000 pounds of venison to food pantries around the state, and Operation Game Thief, a toll-free hotline for anonymous reporting of potential wildlife code violations.
John Winkelman has been writing about outdoors news and issues in Jefferson County for more than 30 years and was the Associate Editor for Outdoor Guide Magazine. If you have story ideas, e-mail ogmjohnw@aol.com, and you can find more outdoor news and updates at johnjwink.com.