Before he joined the Careers in Conservation/Youth Engaged in Sustainable Systems (YESS) program, Carlos Reyes described himself as ‘not too into the outdoors.’ Today, the YV-TECH senior is one of the first students to get a job in the field after completing the program. “The program had a big impact on me, and I hope I can continue this work in the future,” Reyes says now.
After two years in the program, Reyes and fellow CIC/YESS student Rene Ibanez joined Mid-Columbia Fisheries Enhancement Group’s (MCFEG) Bull Trout Task Force this summer. The program is a collaborative effort of MCFEG’s Careers in Conservation, the Yakima School District summer school, YV-TECH and Pacific Education Institute (PEI)’s YESS, and was made possible through funding from the Washington Recreation and Conservation Office and the Washington Department of Natural Resources. It is a six-week summer internship that offers high school students credit toward graduation, a stipend, and field-based work experience in natural resources and conservation that leads to an Industry Recognized Credential (IRC).
“Teaching people, especially children, about why they should care about the outdoors and what they can do to help will go a long way toward the future of our ecosystem, and will hopefully inspire them to pursue careers in the nature industry just like I did.”
— Rene Ibanez, YESS/Careers in Conservation Alumni
A goal is to strengthen career pathways for our sectors, according to Merritt Mitchell, MCFEG Communications and Outreach Manager. “This is coming full circle,” she explains. “The students have explored careers in conservation and now have the opportunity to work in a conservation setting and see if this is truly a career path they’re interested in continuing.”
The Bull Trout Task Force was piloted in 2011 and provides an on-the ground crew to reduce recreational impacts to bull trout through educating the public, removing recreational rock dams, monitoring passage conditions in spawning tributaries, conducting snorkel surveys and, increasingly, rescuing fish. “Some of our bull trout spawning tributaries go dry in the summer,” says Aimee Taylor, Bull Trout Task Force Manager. “We had a large emergency drought contract this summer and literally rescued baby bull trout from drying up in the streams.”
“An important component of our work with natural resource and conservation employers to build career pathways for students is to have jobs for them when they complete the program. MCFEG is a shining example by developing positions that align with the career prep programs,” says Heather Spalding, Associate Director of Green Jobs at PEI. “By the time the YESS alumni apply for the positions, they have completed 180 hours of training for the job, and this sets them up for success as an employee of MCFEG”.
The YESS program is growing. The Yakima area CIC programs had their biggest year in 2025 with 33 students, and statewide, 112 students participated in eight YESS programs. The hope is that more students, like Carlos and Rene, will find entry-level positions for which they qualify.
For Rene, the experience has already inspired ideas for the future. “Teaching people, especially children, about why they should care about the outdoors and what they can do to help will go a long way toward the future of our ecosystem,” he says, “and will hopefully inspire them to pursue careers in the nature industry just like I did.”
