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Glacier Peak Institute, WSU Extension brief council on rural youth and workforce programs in upriver communities
Summary
Glacier Peak Institute described collaborative programs with WSU Snohomish County Extension that use ARPA support and local partnerships to run youth outdoors education and a young‑adult forestry workforce program serving Darrington and similar upriver communities.
Oak Rankin of Glacier Peak Institute told the Snohomish County Planning and Community Development Committee on May 20 that a multi‑year partnership with WSU Snohomish County Extension has funded programs to expand outdoor education and create a young‑adult forestry workforce in upriver communities such as Darrington.
Rankin said the partnership grew from recovery work after a major slide and has focused on direct investment in the local community rather than one‑off programs brought in from the I‑5 corridor. “Since our inception, we’ve been partnering with WSU Snohomish County Extension, which has been instrumental in our success,” Rankin said.
The nut graf: GPI and WSU Extension use ARPA funds and other grants to deliver hands‑on outdoor education for youth, create a young‑adult workforce program (ages roughly 18–26) that provides training in restoration and trail work, and form local contracts so Forest Service and other land managers can hire local crews. Rankin described persistent socioeconomic challenges in upriver communities, noting high childhood poverty and lower median household income, and said local programs create pathways to jobs and post‑secondary options.
Rankin described program activity in Darrington and neighboring communities: school‑based outdoor curricula, 182 youth program sessions in a recent year, gear drives to remove barriers to participation, eDNA sampling and river science activities, canoeing and rock‑climbing exposure, and a youth forestry crew that has undertaken trail and culvert surveys. He said ARPA funding allowed expansion of a young‑adult program that served 13 participants and that GPI currently holds a $40,000 agreement with the Forest Service and is pursuing further contracts.
Council members thanked Rankin for the update; no committee action was requested. Rankin said Anthony (a program partner) could not attend and reiterated gratitude for county ARPA support and WSU Extension collaboration.
The committee adjourned after the item.
