April 26, 2021 | Solving big problems with a huge workforce making lots of small contributions is the crux of an idea kicking around Washington to take on some of the most challenging issues of our times: reimagining the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps. The Biden White House and members of Congress want to tweak that concept to help rebuild the nation’s workforce in a stumbling economy while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions and facilitating the transition to clean energy.

April 25th, 2021 | As a young person, the CCC would make a huge difference for people like me. Over the summer, I had the privilege of working as a corps member for the AZ Conservation Corps. Not only was I able to contribute to bettering the natural world, but I made lifelong connections with a group of people from diverse backgrounds, and I am grateful for that. Most importantly for the impact of this bill, I got a job with AZCC when I was not able to find a job anywhere else. Providing young people with meaningful and impactful jobs is a recipe for personal success and for ensuring the health and well-being of our communities.

(via Jacob Moul - Arizona Conservation Corps Alumni)

April 25th, 2021 | The Appalachian Conservation Corps has a new summer program and is looking for youth in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County aged 16-18 to get involved. The program is called the “Rockingham Outdoor Conservation Crew” or “ROC Crew” and will be based in Harrisonburg. Crews will work on conservation projects in the George Washington and Jefferson National Forests.

April 22nd, 2021 | Hikers flock to the rugged Santa Catalina mountains north of Tucson, but many trails are still off limits in the wake of last year’s Bighorn Fire. Most trails remain closed within the burn scar of the 119,987-acre Bighorn Fire, which raged from June 5 through July 23. Some trails are within Pusch Ridge Wilderness on the southwest flank of the mountains, and others are north or east of the wilderness.

April 17th, 2021 | “All of the seed was collected from the national forest,” said San Juan National Forest Columbine District Ranger James Simino. “We sent that seed to (the Charles E. Bessey Tree Nursery) that the Forest Service manages in Nebraska and they grew the trees out for us, and then we shipped them back down here to plant in the ground.”

April 16th, 2021 | Rappahannock County Park has been visited recently by the Appalachian Conservation Corps (ACC), an AmeriCorps program of Conservation Legacy. The Piedmont Environmental Council, PEC’s Krebser Fund for Rappahannock County and Friends of the Rappahannock (FOR) have partnered with the ACC to bring a crew of 6 young adults to the Piedmont region for tree plantings and trail maintenance projects.

April 16th, 2021 | The crew was hired for reforestation thanks to funding from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and landowner participation in the Virginia Agricultural Cost-Share Program (VACS), and was able to take on the 1.5 days of trail work at Rappahannock County park thanks to funding from the PEC Krebser Fund. The new section is 235 feet of a foot trail that switchbacks on a steep bank, and reconnects to existing trails in the Park. The ACC crew installed masonry and log stairs to stabilize the trail, as well as cleared invasive plant species and brush from the trail’s path.

April 9, 2021 | One provision of the American Jobs Plan would devote $10 billion to creating a Civilian Climate Corps. In his vision, the new CCC will have temporary, part-time, and full-time positions, and they can also transition to permanent positions in the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, and other federal agencies. The new corps will likely build on existing infrastructure across the country, such as the Colorado Youth Corps Association (CYCA), which especially focuses on hiring in forestry. The organization, established in 1997, is modeled after New Deal programs.

April 6, 2021 | "So many times over the years, I have heard young women say that this work seems so interesting, but they wonder if they are "strong enough" to do the physical work and "tough enough" to endure the lifestyle. On the flip side, I have not once heard a young man utter these words of self doubt. So, I do my best to be encouraging and supportive to this type of opportunity for all of us who are underrepresented in the field of conservation and recreation."

April 1st, 2021| Conservation Corps North Carolina, which dispatches teams to improve parks across the state, sent six people to the forest this week to improve the trails. They’ll be back in Spencer next week, too, to keep working. The goal, assistant crew leader Lillian Cahill said, is to make hiking trails more sustainable so maintenance isn’t as necessary in the future.