Past Program - June to September 2025
YOUTH CLIMATE CORPS BC - Hazelton
Empowering Youth for a Better Future
Hazelton is a small community located in the Skeena region of British Columbia. In partnership with the Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition (SWCC), YCCBC is proud to launch its first-ever program in Hazelton as part of the 2025 summer season.
Land Acknowledgment
The village of Hazelton stands on the unceded traditional territory of the Gitxsan people. We acknowledge and honour the rich heritage and deep connection to this land.
YCCBC Hazelton - 2025 Season
For the 2025 YCCBC Hazelton season, Skeena Watershed Conservation Coalition hired four local Gitxsan and Wet'suwet'en youth to participate in two separate but connected programs, led by one youth coordinator. Within these programs, mobilizers work to combat the effects of colonization and climate change, connect with their communities, and create waves of change for the future.
Field Interns
In June, Field Interns participated in an intensive field school program on the territory of Madii Lii, where they learned about field safety, geography, botany, plant and tree identification, and other tools that would later help them complete vegetation surveys out on the territory.
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For the field Interns, one of the biggest assignments has been collaborating with the community of Sik-E-Dakh and Colorado-based Coalitions & Collaboratives on a project called Cold-Fire. Amidst an escalating fire-reality, the Cold-Fire project aims to reduce wildfire risk by breaking down forestry slash piles with fungal mycelium rather than burning them. Interns have been working rain or shine, investigating the power of fungi, collecting and chipping wood samples, and coordinating with lab partners to conduct this complex experiment. If successful, this project will provide a sustainable approach to wildfire mitigation and green jobs in rural communities.
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Alongside the Cold-Fire project, interns are learning the power of other plants, fungi, and bacteria to remediate sites with chemical damage. Techniques of bioremediation, taught by Leila Darwish, scientist and author of Earth Repair: A Grassroots Guide to Healing Toxic and Damaged Landscapes, are implemented to heal structure fires and creosote-contaminated sites.
Junior Guides
Junior guides spend their season building their technical rafting skills to assist in the Youth On Water (YOW) program and build confidence on the river. The YOW program runs in five communities and takes youth participants on rafting trips to aid in cultural healing, community building, and to foster a lived connection with the water. By helping run the YOW program, junior guides take on leadership roles in their community and learn to use their voice to stand in their power.
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Outside of the YOW program, weekly familiarization trips give junior guides time to ask questions, make mistakes, and learn from other experienced guides. Oftentimes, land stewardship lessons are implemented to connect guiding roles with the protection of the Skeena watershed.
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Colette Bennett, SWCC’s Youth Coordinator, has been working hard this season to support these positions and all the projects they work on. As a raft guide, experienced environmental educator, and Forest Sciences student at UBC, Colette’s unique background has enabled her to work between the two vastly different worlds.
Within Youth Climate Corps, crew members are between 17-30 years old; they earn wages, gain work experience, build networks, and develop themselves personally and professionally. Meanwhile, they complete projects that both benefit their own communities and support global efforts to act on the climate crisis.
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If you or your organization wants to learn more about how to team up with us and move forward on projects in your community, or if you are interested in funding one of our projects related to our different focus areas, we are here to support you.