INDEPENDENCE — Manzanar National Historic Site will sponsor a five-week Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) program this summer.
Youths 15 to 18 are encouraged to apply, provided they do not reach their 19th birthday before July 30.
YCC team members will work Monday, July 3, through Friday, Aug. 4, earning the California minimum wage of $15.50 per hour. They will work at Manzanar National Historic Site under the supervision of National Park Service (NPS) staff Monday to Friday from 7:00 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Most work is outdoors (regardless of weather), dirty, and physically demanding.
Manzanar hosted its first YCC crew in 2002, offering local youth opportunities to help preserve the site and its stories.
The YCC team will focus on the preservation of resources associated with the confinement of Japanese Americans during World War II and the pre-war Manzanar orchard community. They will also have opportunities to visit other historically significant sites in the valley. Those selected will need to provide their own transportation to work and will be required to have their own checking or savings account for payroll direct deposit before they begin.
Applications may be obtained from the Manzanar National Historic Site Visitor Center, 5001 Highway 395, six miles South of Independence. The completed application must be received no later than 4:30 p.m., Friday, June 16, at Manzanar National Historic Site, Attn: Dave Goto, P.O. Box 426, Independence, CA 93526.
The participants and alternates for the 2023 program will be notified by June 23. For more information, contact Acting Facility Manager David Goto at (760) 878-2194, ext. 3337 or email David_Goto@nps.gov.