The 10 teens and young adults in this year's YEAH program will be the last, after the program's budget was cut by the federal government.

The Youth Enhancing Aquatic Habitats has been run since 2003 by the Langley Environmental Partners Society (LEPS).

About two weeks ago, LEPS was told that Service Canada has decided to stop funding the program. A strategic planning exercise looked at geography and youth populations, project results and other variables to reach the decision, LEPS was told.

"That's really disappointing, very unfortunate," said Nichole Marples, LEPS' executive director.

The cuts are going to result in the loss of two LEPS staffers who ran the program, as well as having a big impact on LEPS' ability to do environmental work around the community, said Marples.

Each year, groups of young people from 15 to 30 years old, with limited or no work experience, were taken on in groups of 10 for a pair of months-long sessions. The participants worked mapping streams, planting trees, tearing out invasive plants, doing forest inventory assessments, educating school-aged kids about the environment, and removing trash from streams and parks.

Earlier YEAH crews did much of the work to build the Langley Demonstration Garden, and it was hoped that future crews would help move the garden to a new location at Langley Township's arboretum.

In addition to the work itself, they are taught the skills needed on any job site, like communication and stress management.

Many of the young people who have gone through YEAH over the past decade were categorized as "at risk," and they had often had minor run-ins with the law. The aim of Skills Link programs like YEAH was to catch young people before things went too wrong in their lives, to build them up and help them succeed.

A Save the YEAH Program Facebook page has been started by a former participant, and has been collecting stories from previous graduates. The page has 73 members, who have shared stories of going from joblessness to becoming apprentice horitculturists, paramedics in training, or even conquering a fear of heights.

Nicole Carlson and Daryl Wyatt are the current program instructors, who heard two weeks ago that their jobs and the program are being cut.

Carlson is worried about the people who were already applying for the next session, even before it had been advertised.

"In every crew we see a huge transformation," she said.

"It's a lifesaver," said Jordy Werner, a YEAH crew member. During this session, which started last fall, he's gone from couch surfing to finding his own place to live. He's had work experience in the past, but nothing where he connected to the work or to his coworkers, he said.

Marples wants to know why the YEAH program in particular was de-funded, along with at least two other youth-oriented programs in the Surrey area.

"That's the question, where is all of the money being placed?" she said.

Service Canada was contacted about why the programs are being cut, but did not respond with any information by deadline.

Without the crews of young workers, LEPS is going to have to rely more than ever on its volunteers. It will be a challenge to find enough people to do what the YEAH crews have done, Marples said.

The current crew will graduate from the program in March.

mclaxton@langleyadvance.com