2017 TU Teen Summit Headed to TU’s Birthplace!

by Franklin Tate, Headwaters Youth Program Director

The sixth annual TU Teen Summit will be held on the TU “Holy Waters” of the Au Sable in June 2017, with twenty five teen leaders from around the country converging for four days of planning, learning, fishing, and fun. TU’s Headwaters youth staff and their merry band of volunteers are super lucky to have help this year from Michigan’s dedicated network of grassroots leadership. But what exactly will this year’s teen leadership conference include? Well, let’s see…a streamside service project, a visit to the Art Neumann memorial, a canoe trip down the Au Sable, a presentation on the famed Mason Tract, advocacy sessions with TU staff, brainstorming sessions for the Youth Leadership Council, and lots of fly tying and fishing. Pinch me, I must be dreaming!

Conceived over six years ago as a crucial link between TU’s Summer Fly Fishing Camps and Academies and the TU Costa 5 Rivers program, the Teen Summit provides leadership opportunities and experience to a new generation of young TU champions. All teens who attend the Summit become members of the national Youth Leadership Council (YLC) and spend the school year coordinating various kinds of outreach projects to other teens.

This year’s applications for the Summit are available for download now at www.tu.org/teensummit, and the application period runs from March 1st to April 1st. Please have an interested teen visit the TU Teen Summit page for all of the information needed to apply. You can also find out more about the Summit by reading up on last year’s event, which was held in Montana: 2016 TU Teen Summit.

TU Teens—the conservation leaders of tomorrow!