December 26th, 2021 | Climate change was again a major focus in Flagstaff in 2021 and the region saw the effects firsthand with a summer of extreme wildfires. The community moved forward on critical climate regulations and worked proactively to curb the severity of future issues, with some drawing public criticism.

Dec 22, 2021 | After Bighorn burned almost 120,000 acres between June 5 and July 23, 2020, the Forest Service closed the burn scar area to the public including almost 207 miles of trails. A combination of nonprofit group work, grant-funded conservation corps, and Forest Service staff work has steadily opened more trail sections over the past year.

December 20th, 2021 | A Black community situated at the base of the Blue Ridge escarpment in McDowell County is taking a leading role in developing an ambitious trail project in Pisgah National Forest.

Work is slated to begin later this year on the Old Fort Trails Project, which will create roughly 42 miles of new sustainably constructed trails to improve community connectivity, reduce barriers to access, and support environmental and social sustainability.

December 20th, 2021 | Working with the Forest Service, Tribal governments and communities, Ancestral Lands conservation corps, and other partners, we are connecting small diameter timber from restoration projects led by NFF and the Forest Service with Tribal partners who split the wood and provide it to elders and other community members.

December 10th, 2021 | Sprinkled among the tall grasses, wildflowers, and Bebb’s willows (the southernmost stand of Bebbs in the world) are 20 or so 20-somethings, all Hopi and Tewa. Like Manuel, they are workers for Ancestral Lands, an Indigenous conservation corps tasked with removing waste wood from sunny Hart Prairie, a wide open meadow near Flagstaff, Arizona. Above them is the rugged skyline of the San Francisco Peaks, known as Nuva’tukya’ovi, or “The Place of Snow on the Very Top,” to Manuel’s people.

December 9th, 2021 | "We were that silent majority of people that were funding this outdoor space because we were still buying all this equipment," Hubbard said. "So we focused on saying, 'Hey, not only are we here, but we want to see people out there working these jobs that look like us.' "

December 6, 2021 | Durango, Colorado—Conservation Legacy Chairman and former US Department of Agriculture Deputy Undersecretary Butch Blazer announced Elwood York as the new Chief Executive Officer today.

November 29th, 2021 | “At the scale of things that we need to do, we can’t really address them just as an agency,” said Tim Leishman, a silviculturist with San Juan National Forest’s Columbine Ranger District. “We have to have groups like Mountain Studies Institute, San Juan Mountains Association, Southwest Conservation Corps and other groups really help us meet those goals.”

November 29th, 2021 | “These are designed to be sustainably-built, purpose-built horse trails, so they’re not just putting horse trails on old logging roads or ATV trails,” McIntyre continued. “It’s really considering the impact of horses because they have a different impact on trails than humans.”

November 26th, 2021 | Through partnership with the Southeast Conservation Corps, the Daniel Boone National Forest was privileged to host a 14 member all-female trail crew earlier this fall. The crew spent eight weeks rebuilding campsites, constructing a quarter mile of trail and completing other necessary maintenance work on the Forest’s popular Bee Rock Campground on the London Ranger District. Their work was instrumental in restoring the severely flood-damaged campground.