FAQ
Founded in 2010, the Florida Youth Conservation Centers Network, or FYCCN, is a groundbreaking public-private partnership initiative whose goal is to inspire in youth a lifelong interest in and passion for conserving Florida’s natural resources.
To make this happen, we aim to help young people experience the best that wild Florida has offer and then educate and empower them with practical conservation principles. That is why our slogan is, “Creating the Next Generation That CaresSM."
Practically, we do this in two ways:
- Operate five year-round youth conservation centers in Apollo Beach, Lakeland, Ocala, Tallahassee, and West Palm Beach, which convert to summer camps May-August.
- Maintain thriving partnerships with over hundreds of public and private organizations around the state, empowering them with resources, training, education, equipment, and support.
It is our hope that these approaches will allow us to offer more outdoor opportunities to Florida’s under-reached children and families, especially those in areas with little or no access to the outdoors.
In an effort to help youth have positive early experiences in the outdoors, we’ve carefully designed a program that focuses on four outdoor recreational experiences: Paddle Sports, Shooting Sports, Fishing, and Wildlife Discovery. Although campers and visitors experience many more outdoor adventures than these, including swimming, bonfires, survival skills, orienteering, knot-tying, and much more, these four are the “pillars” on which our educational efforts rest.
You’ll see the pillars reflected in our logo: blue for Paddle Sports, red for Shooting Sports, orange for Fishing, and green for Wildlife Discovery.
We can’t wait to share our amazing summer camp adventures with your family! We have five camps in Apollo Beach, Lakeland, Ocala, Tallahassee, and West Palm Beach. Visit our Summer Camps page for all the details.
Our Youth Conservation Centers are busy all year round with field trips, public fishing, seminars, trainings, after-school programs, private events, spring break workshops, fall break activities, and much, much more. Each Center manages their own calendar independently, and not all centers offer the same activities or public hours, so be sure to call or email before you visit!
Everglades Youth Conservation Center
Joe Budd Youth Conservation Center
We partner with hundreds of public and private organizations, parks, community centers, camps, clubs, museums, zoos, aquariums, and more! Check out our Partner search feature where you can search by activities offered, amenities offered, and region. Tell ‘em we sent you!
Thank you so much for helping us as we “Create the Next Generation That CaresSM”!
Monetary donations may be made through the Fish and Wildlife Foundation of Florida.
Equipment donations may be facilitated via our Donate Equipment page.
The FYCCN partners with hundreds of Florida’s public and private organizations, parks, community centers, camps, clubs, museums, zoos, and aquariums, all working together to "create the next generation that caresSM". We welcome your organization to join us! Check out our Becoming a Partner page for more information and how to get started.
Welcome, and thank you for all you do for Florida’s youth and families. We have a few options for you:
-A whole page of free downloadable educational materials for kids from preschool to high school.
-An introduction to Project WILD, a free environmental education program that uses wildlife as a gateway to teach about habitats, human-wildlife interactions, personal action, wildlife in artwork and more!
-Education Kit loans - the FYCCN loans custom-designed, hands-on education kits, complete with curricula, to educators and our formal partners for the purpose of immersive programs for youth of all ages.
The FYCCN provides youth programs in two main ways: at our Youth Conservation Centers (Apollo Beach, Lakeland, Ocala, Tallahassee, and West Palm Beach), and through our vast Partner network of hundreds of organizations around the state. Even with all this help, it's a big job and our staff are minimal. As much as we'd like to visit every single classroom or youth group in Florida, we're not usually able to come to events for schools or other non-partner groups to speak directly to youth. If you would like to find someone who might be able to help with your event/speaker need, please reach out to one of our excellent Partners or to one of FWC's regional offices.
Drop us a line at fyccn@MyFWC.com or fill out our contact form and someone will respond shortly. We look forward to helping you!