The Youth Wilderness Expedition Leader (YWEL) will work in the Selway-Bitterroot and Frank Church Wilderness areas and surrounding wildlands. This region spans four national forests: The Bitterroot National Forest, Nez Perce-Clearwater National Forest, Payette National Forest, and Salmon-Challis National Forest. The purpose of the SBFC Youth Wilderness Program is for youth from Idaho and Montana to fall in love with wilderness, forge an appreciation for wilderness stewardship and public land, gain an understanding of Leave No Trace principles, Wilderness history and ethics, and develop basic skills in backcountry camping, travel, and trail maintenance using traditional hand tools. We provide youth with transformative, life-changing experiences that disconnect them from their phones and social media, and connect them to nature. We boost self-confidence and foster leadership skills they can carry back to their communities. We do this by leading multi-day (typically 6-day) backpacking trips centered on immersive, hands-on education, recreation, and wilderness stewardship (trail maintenance) service projects. 

The YWEL will report directly to the SBFC Youth Program Director, and will work closely with other SBFC staff, United States Forest Service personnel, and other partners. The YWEL will lead crews of local youth, ages 12-18, on backcountry expeditions, which include elements of trail stewardship projects and experiential wilderness education. Each expedition will be led by the YWEL with assistance from one Wilderness Ranger Fellow, or an SBFC staff member. The YWEL schedule may vary and will require stretches of work up to nine days at a time, often over weekends.