Generation Green - Although surrounded by nature's beauty, many children in the Lake Tahoe area are disconnected with the outdoor environment.  The Generation Green of Lake Tahoe is a work program designed to teach students about the forest while they work.  Targeting low-income, diverse and youth-with-a barrier students, this program provides job opportunities, while building work ethics, job skills, leadership, experience and teamwork skills.  Youth are shown a variety of jobs found in natural resource fields and connect with Forest Service mentors.  Students start this program with a 4-day, 3-night back pack trip offered by Lake Tahoe Community College.  After the back pack trip, their seven-week employment begins.  They work on recreation projects such as trail building, painting picnic tables, and cleaning campgrounds.  Resource projects include wildlife surveys, soil monitoring, forest care and maintenance.  Some students have the opportunity to do interpretive programs and historic site maintenance.  These opportunites give youth a connection to the many land management agencies in the Lake Tahoe Basin,  to the environment all around them, and to their community.  It gives the students a sense of accomplishment and lets them see that they are people who can make a difference in this world.  

Contact: Joy Barney, Conservation Education Program Specialist, USDA Forest Service, Lake Tahoe Basin Mgmt Unit
Address: 35 College Drive, South Lake Tahoe, CA  96150 - Phone: (530) 543-2685 - E-mail:  jbarney@fs.fed.us -
Website:  www.fs.fed.us/r5/ltbmu

Youth Services Program - The El Dorado County's Youth Services Program, under the Workforce Investment Act (WIA), offers services to prepare youth for additional education, vocational training and/or employment.  To qualify for the Youth Program, you must:

-be low income (gross income under $10,400/year for 1 person family)
-be between the ages of 14-21
-have an obstacle to employment such as:

WIA supports the Youth Task Force in that the program can help serve South Lake Tahoe's population of at risk youth who need assistance in gaining work readiness skills and occupational training.  The WIA program also emphasizes the importance of education by supporting the youth to complete secondary schooling and earn their high school diploma or GED.

Contact: To find out if you are eligible for services please contact Casey O'Neill, Phone: (530) 573-4335,
Email: casey.oneill@edcgov.us