(AP) — The Interior Department on Thursday issued draft guidelines for a new conservation corps that will allow Native youth to work on projects that benefit their own communities. The department scheduled a series of consultations to get feedback on the guidelines from Native American tribes, Alaska Native corporations and Native Hawaiians. The Indian Youth Service Corps was created through a bill that modernized the broader conservation corps in 2019. The Interior Department was tasked with coming up with the guidelines on how it will be implemented. Interior Secretary Deb Haaland says the program could transform the lives of Indigenous youth across the country.

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