Youth Wilderness Leadership Program invites applicants

AREA — Friends of Baxter State Park (FBSP) is inviting current Maine high school sophomores and juniors to submit applications to participate in the third annual Maine Youth Wilderness Leadership Program (MYWLP) at Baxter State Park. The program is scheduled for August 6-14. The application deadline is February 15.

According to FBSP President Barbara Bentley, “Ten teenagers will be chosen to participate in the nine-day program, which is designed to introduce the students to the importance of wilderness preservation and wildlands management in Baxter State Park.”

The 10 students, along with two guides, will explore the streams, mountains, lakes, and forests of this 200,000+ acre wilderness preserve. The values of wilderness preservation will be highlighted by sessions with specialists including an outdoor journalist, a naturalist, a geologist, a Penobscot cultural educator, an astronomer, a wilderness photographer and a regional artist.

There are no fees charged for this program. Friends of Baxter State Park receives funding for the program from the Quimby Family Foundation (www.quimbyfamilyfoundation.org). Trip leadership and logistics are provided through a collaboration with the Chewonki Foundation (www.chewonki.org). More information about the program, including an application, can be found at www.friendsofbaxter.org. To learn more about Baxter State Park, go to www.baxterstateparkauthority.com.

Friends of Baxter State Park is a nonprofit citizen organization working to preserve, support, and enhance the wilderness character of Baxter State Park, in the spirit of its founder, Governor Percival Baxter.