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SEEDS Builds New Observation Deck To Protect Endangered Species

Article, written by Mara Thompson, appears in UpNorthLive. Published July 16, 2014.

LEELANAU CO. — A dedication ceremony for a new observation deck on Glen Lake was held Wednesday to celebrate the multiple environmental benefits it created.

The project has been in the works for two years, and was completed by the SEEDS youth corps. Students from Kalkaska and Leelanau County constructed the deck at Old Settlers Park.

The students harvested and milled Black Locust wood, an invasive species in the area to build the deck.

The deck gives onlookers a view of a cluster of Michigan monkey flowers, an endangered species found only in Michigan, and it keeps people from walking down the hill and accidentally trampling them.

“Not only did it preserve and protect an endangered species, we removed an invasive species to build it,” said SEEDS youth programs director Bill Watson. “It gave young people jobs and work and helped them get school credit while they were doing the work at the same time. It’s an incredible win-win project and the county ends up with a really lovely deck in their park.”

Organizers said the deck was possible due to help from volunteers and a grant given by the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians.

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SEEDS was a 2012 Project of the Year Award Winner for their projects using Black Locust wood. It’s great to see they are continuing the environmentally friendly practice.

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Conservation Cruisers “Team Awesome” Values Commitment and Earns Bikes

Article, written by Conservation Cruisers Leader Kevin Webster, appears on Southeast Youth Corps’ website. Published July 14, 2014.

How often does one hear “Kids these days don’t know how to appreciate anything” and “Kids these days do not know know the value of hard work”?  Well, I can assure you that the graduates of Trips for Kids-Southeast Youth Corps’s Conservation Cruisers directly challenge these assumptions, and I know first hand they break down that stereotype.  This Saturday SYC staff, family members of the participants, Ride Mentors, and community members gathered to show their support for the hard work of these five youth.

On July 12th, 2014 Trips for Kids-Southeast Youth Corps graduated its second team of Conservation Cruisers, also known as “Team Awesome,” and five of them earned their very own mountain bike to continue to bike the trails of Chattanooga.

But what does that mean really, you ask?  For the past five months, six teenagers aged 12 through 15 gave up their Saturday mornings (I repeat, for five months!) to do something they have never done before, with people they did not know, and to take them to places they have never been.  That takes courage, that takes strength, and that takes commitment.  When they decided to make the commitment, they knew what they were working for, a new mountain bike and a helmet, and they were willing to work for it.  They taught themselves a lesson in responsibility, not just to themselves but also to the other team members to show up every Saturday on time, as if it were a job.

But they may also have walked away with benefits and contributions they did not originally anticipate like perseverance, patience, teamwork, and trust.  Mountain biking is a difficult sport.  Any new biker I’ve ever biked with admits the first pains, “This saddle is killing me!”  And it does, and you have to bear it, and you have to do it again.  I saw one of our participants sit atop a steep hill recently, calculating inside her brain the risk, and the worth, and then experience the exhilaration and the thrill of “You did it.  That’s awesome!  Go Glendy!”  Mountain bike volunteer Ride Mentor Jennifer Dzik explained to the group during their graduation, “I know you worked hard, I saw you do it, and it means a lot to me, and I hope to continue to see you on the trails,” as she congratulated them for earning their bikes.

You continue to do it because you want it.  We battled the heat and cold, rain and humidity, and bugs to fulfill our rides and do perform our monthly conservation service work.  Ask any one of these kids what Bush Honeysuckle, English Ivy, Privet, or Poison Ivy looks like, and they’ll gladly show you because they experienced it.  They know it first hand.  As we pulled hundreds of Bush Honeysuckle plants from Old Baldy on Stringer’s Ridge Park we also became acquainted with mosquitoes and sweat.  Going back to that site you can really see the difference and the impact, and that is how we made our mark, and will continue to do so.

Together the participants:

Biked 292 miles

Spent 190 hours in the saddle

Gave 30 hours performing conservation service work

199 hours were spent mentoring youth

To conclude the graduation, we all took a ceremonial ride through the Hill City neighborhood with friends, families, and little brothers and little sisters (future Conservation Cruisers) like we were on top of the world.  One Trips for Kids participant took the time to explain some group riding rules to the group and how to make other riders alert of when cars were in front or behind us before taking off.

If there is anything that I’ve learned from this special experience is that kids will meet the challenge if given a good opportunity.  Their resilience and hard work is evident, and they amaze me each time I see them.  I do not doubt that future Trips for Kids Conservation Cruisers will do the same.

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Bugs, Heat, Hard Work Turn Into Eco-Careers at Student Conservation Association

Article, written by Marty Levine, appears in Next Pittsburgh. Published July 14, 2014. Photo courtesy of SCA.

Get a bunch of city kids out in the park to learn trail maintenance and it can get unpleasant rapidly—or it can be downright inspiring.

“It’s hard work, it’s hot and it’s buggy,” says Jennifer Meccariello Layman, who directs the Pittsburgh chapter of the national Student Conservation Association (SCA), which placed 102 local high-schoolers from underserved neighborhoods in outdoor summer jobs this month. “They’re wearing long pants, hard hats and boots. They can get a little grouchy because of that. Some kids figure out, ‘I don’t want to work outside.’ Other kids figure out that they love it.”

These 14- to 19-year-olds are fixing up city and regional parks by improving trails, plucking out invasive species and planting trees. They’re also helping to recover vacant lots and greenspaces in Hazelwood and Glen Hazel, adding rain barrels to Lincoln-Lemington homes and maintaining food and flower gardens.

“It’s the first job for most of them,” says Layman. “They are not very connected to the outdoors or the environment in the parks, so it’s a new experience. By the end of the summer they are a well-oiled machine … and there’s a definite pride in what they’ve accomplished.”

Now in its 15th year, the Pittsburgh SCA aims to help the teens learn other skills too, with work-readiness lessons offered amid the time outdoors. Those doing vacant lot remediation are even documenting their work with Gigapan cameras this year for the first time. Gigapans create digital panoramic images, so the kids will gain lessons in STEM subjects—science, technology, engineering and math—while making a record of their work for Hazelwood and Glen Hazel to preserve and display.

“It will give them a bigger sense of accomplishment for what they complete,” says Layman. Not to mention that “Gigapans are just pretty cool.”

Maybe some of the kids will even turn into conservationists, she says. “Our mission is to create the next generation of conservation leaders. We want to start planting that seed of environmental and eco-stewardship.”

At the end of the summer, participants are invited to a weekend camping trip in the Allegheny National Forest, which is also a new experience for most of them, she says.

“It’s tough to instill a love of nature when you’re just working,” she allows. “We can show them what they’re working for—the fun you can have outside in addition to the work it takes to keep everything working properly.”

“Our biggest goal … is to keep kids coming back for programs,” she says. The SCA also runs a Student Conservation Leadership Corps that places volunteers in state parks, a program in the country’s national parks. It also has two internship programs for college grads with sustainability degrees who work with local nonprofits promoting rural and small-town tourism along the Greater Allegheny Passage and in the Mon Valley. “We’d love to see kids who are interested in this keep going with us.”

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Condolences to Northwest Youth Corps

Story appears on NWYC Facebook page.

It is with a deep sadness that we recognize the passing of Quintin Horseman, a member of Northwest Youth Corps’ Spokane CCC AmeriCorps crew. Quintin was involved in a bicycle accident while on his way to his service site Monday morning. He passed away in the hospital surrounded by family and those that love him.

Quintin had been a part of Northwest Youth Corps for several months and was a spirited and vital member of the crew. He will be remembered as a man who worked hard to improve himself; a young man who faced and defeated many obstacles that would seem insurmountable to most. He recently received his GED as well as a welding certification, and was serving as an AmeriCorps Member to develop technical skills and increase his career readiness. His life is a testament to perseverance and dedication. He has set an example for others to follow, and will be sorely missed.

We know that the Northwest Youth Corps family is an incredibly caring and empathetic group. We ask that you please keep Quintin and his family in your hearts and prayers as they move through the difficult period ahead. NYC has set up a fund raising campaign to help Quintin’s family with the costs associated with his medical care and memorial. Please visit https://www.gofundme.com/bc94x0 to make a donation.

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Distant Woods Experience with Student Conservation Association Focuses One Young Man on Helping Pittsburgh

Article, written by AmaRece Davis, appears in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Published July 8, 2014.

I’ve lived in Homewood for all of my 21 years. It’s one of Pittsburgh’s poorest, most crime-infested neighborhoods. Opportunities for young people are few, and role models are even fewer. That’s exactly why I plan to stay here.

I want to be a beacon for the young people who live in Homewood, to help them understand that we do have chances to live a better life — we just have to look for them a little bit harder than people who grow up elsewhere.

I speak from experience. Two of my older brothers are in prison for murder. They’ll likely never see the outside again, and as a teenager I was right behind them, heading down that same dark path. I was in trouble all the time and didn’t want to listen to anyone, but then I got a break.

At 15, I started working with the Student Conservation Association, which offers young people internships in parks across the country. I always liked being outdoors, so I figured, “Why not?”

In my first two years of building trails, clearing bush and planting trees around Pittsburgh, neither my life nor my attitude changed much. Then I got the chance to join an SCA crew at Sequoia National Park in California, surrounded by trees that seemed to reach the heavens. I sat at the base of one of these giants on my 18th birthday and thought about all of my friends and relatives who had never been out of Pittsburgh and of others who hadn’t even survived to be 18.

I came home a different person. I had found something larger than myself, figuratively and literally. I never used to care about litter, for example, and based on all the trash on the streets where I lived, neither did anyone else. When I got back from the West, I immediately organized a recycling program at Westinghouse High School and became known as Recycling Rece.

The school has some of the lowest test scores in the country. No one expects much from the kids who go there — and believe me, the students know it — but other students saw what I was doing and offered to help and prove the skeptics wrong. Imagine what could happen if there were more role models in our neighborhood. Kids here would grow up with hope instead of hopelessness.

I’ve been attending community college and working part time at the Pittsburgh Zoo & PPG Aquarium, with the ultimate goal of going to Penn State and starting a career in conservation.

I’m spending the summer with SCA as a crew leader at the African Burial Ground National Monument in New York. I’m excited to work with a team of teenagers, protect a little part of our planet and earn some money for school, but I vow: Once I get my college degree, I will come back to the neighborhood that gave me my start. I will lead by example and be the alternative role model kids here so desperately need. I’d like to see more people do the same.

I’m not naive enough to think that picking up garbage or planting a few trees will cure all the issues in Homewood. Not long ago, as my best friend and I were walking to the store, stray gunfire hit him, and he was paralyzed. I am determined to help rid the neighborhood of such dangers, and not just for me.

My younger brother is 16 and navigating the same streets as the rest of us. I do all I can to keep him out of harm’s way. We talk about setting goals and dreaming big. I give him spending money when I can so he’s not tempted to seek it in other ways. I also visit my older brothers in jail all the time. They’re proud of what I’m doing and want to see Homewood become a better environment just as much as I do.

I’m grateful for my transformative experience through nature, but I had to travel more than 2,500 miles to get it. It shouldn’t be that way. We should be able to provide life-changing outlets for kids right here in Homewood.

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Crews from Conservation Corps Minnesota Break Up Jay Cooke State Park Logjam Created by 2012 Flood

Article, written by John Myers, appears in the Pioneer Press. Published July 10, 2014.

JAY COOKE STATE PARK, Minn. — There were no bulldozers or backhoes here, along the rocky banks of the St. Louis River, just a few chain saws, picks and pitchforks.

And lots of muscle power.

Crews from Conservation Corps Minnesota were busy Wednesday tearing down a literal logjam that settled during the great flood of June 2012.

Hundreds of tons of debris plugged a channel along the river, creating not just a blockage for the water but also a safety concern for park visitors.

Park staff members have been removing garbage and other flotsam from the scene for two years. But only this year did they get the crews needed to start on the huge pile of tree trunks, limbs and branches that covered what had been a popular photo-snapping spot just across the famous swinging bridge near the park’s headquarters.

“The debris was stacked above the rocks, maybe 15, 20 feet high. We’ve been working on it since May, and steady for the last week or so,” said Mitch Pauly of Superior, a Minnesota State Parks building and grounds crew worker. “It’s slow going… But having the Conservation Corps crews here has really helped. This is the kind of work where we can’t get big machines in here. So we need bodies to dig in and get dirty.”

That’s exactly what adult and youth Conservation Corps crew members were doing Wednesday: sawing and hauling logs and limbs up to a four-wheel utility vehicle that brought them to a dumping spot. The wood is being used to fill-in where the 20102 flood caused a landslide at another location in the park.

Most of the adult crew members are full-time, yearlong positions. Funding comes for the federal AmeriCorps program and from fees paid by the state, county, local, federal or private property manager where the crews perform their work. Trail associations and “friends of” groups are frequent employers of corps crews, as are state parks.

“A lot of us are in outdoor and conservation fields, but not everybody. We have an art major who wasn’t sure what she was doing and so is spending the year doing this,” said Josh Andreska, an adult crew leader and geology/environmental science graduate of the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse. “It’s a lot of work. But it’s a good foot in the door for natural resource jobs.”

Conservation Corps members are trained to build all sorts of recreation trails and foot bridges, clear invasive species, trim trees, clean campgrounds and respond to a list of natural disasters including wildfires, floods and even hurricanes. Already this summer, Conservation Corps Minnesota crews have responded to floods and other disasters, including efforts in recent weeks to protect homes and lodges along Lake Kabetogama.

This year, there are 31, five-person adult field crews working across the state. But they also have been as far away as Alaska in recent years.

“We had crews out helping right away after Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast. We have a schedule full of natural resource jobs lined up, but the understanding is that, if a disaster hits, our crews are ready to go,” said Connie Lanphear, communications director for the corps. “Usually they are pulled off to help fight forest fires. But this year it’s been more floods than fires.”

Conservation Corps Minnesota has roots back to the 1930s Civilian Conservation Corps, which provided natural resource jobs to unemployed young men so they could support their families during the Great Depression. In the 1970s the federal government launched the Youth Conservation Corps and the year-round Young Adult Conservation Corps. When funding for those ended in 1981, the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources took over the effort, creating the Minnesota Conservation Corps.

In 1999, the Friends of the Minnesota Conservation Corps was incorporated as a private, nonprofit that took over the Minnesota Conservation Corps in 2003. The name changed to Conservation Corps Minnesota in 2010. The effort provides outdoor work for about 550 teens and young adults each year.

The six-person youth crews involve four-week stints that pay high schoolers $200 per week (and free food) to camp in the outdoors and travel to wild places in the state that many of them had never seen before. In addition to the debris pile, two youth crews also have helped move rip-rap boulders at Jay Cooke to buttress a new hiking trail bridge. They also have worked in the Gilbert ATV park as well as St. Croix and Banning State Parks.

Many of the youth participants have never been camping, never been to a state park, and some have never been out of their city, Lanphear noted. Many also have never had a hard-work job. Many of them end up bringing family back to show off the work they had accomplished.

“You gain a lot of confidence in what you can do. But I think the big thing is the sense of community you build with each other,” said Jonathan Goldenberg, a youth crew leader. Participants develop “the sense that, when people work together, you can get a lot more done.”

CONSERVATION CORPS MINNESOTA

For more information on how to join Conservation Corps Minnesota, or to hire a crew for a natural resource or recreation project, go to www.conservationcorps.org.

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[VIDEO] Civic Works Transforms Old Lot into Garden, Memorial for Colored School 115

Article, written by Danae King, appears in The Baltimore Sun. Published July 8, 2014.

At 90 years old, Betty Williams’ clearest memory of her days at Colored School 115 is running through an alley the schoolchildren thought was haunted.

“It was a game to run through and not get caught,” she said, describing the lane between two of the old school’s buildings.

Williams attended grades one through six at the school, built in 1888 in Baltimore’s Waverly neighborhood, from 1929 to 1935. It was declared unfit for children in the 1920s but continued in use because of “the feeling that black children weren’t deserving of anything better,” said historian JoAnn Robinson. The school was torn down in the 1950s, after the U.S. Supreme Court‘s Brown v. Board of Education ruling forbade school segregation.

On Monday night, about 50 community members gathered for the opening of Schoolhouse Garden, which now commemorates the space where Williams’ school used to be, at Brentwood Avenue and Merryman Lane.

The space was transformed from a rubble- and trash-filled lot to a garden with silhouettes of children and teachers, hydrangeas, fruit trees, mulch and paving stones.

The garden is an “homage” to the first colored school in Baltimore, said Waverly Main Street Executive Director Jermaine Johnson. “It keeps history alive so young people coming along know where their grandparents and great-grandparents came from and how well they did despite hardships,” said City Councilwoman Mary Pat Clarke. “Instead of looking at a littered lot, you’re looking at a legacy.”

Williams, who grew up to be a teacher and retired in 1982 as principal at Eastern High School, is one of many notable alumni and teachers, said Robinson, a retired history professor at Morgan State University. “Imagine the feats of intellect, imagination and devotion these teachers must have performed to overcome these surroundings,” Robinson said, referring to the ramshackle buildings, outdoor toilets and potbellied stoves the teachers had to tend.

Though the three buildings were called the “chicken coop” by students who attended, Williams said she loved going to school and that the experience was not at all unpleasant for her.“

For two years, Waverly Main Street, a commercial revitalization organization in the area, and Civic Works, a nonprofit that transforms vacant lots around the city, have been working on the property.

Located in a high-traffic area across from the Waverly Farmers’ Market, it had become an eyesore, but there was a “deep community interest” in it, said Civic Works COO Earl Millett.

“There was always an idea to do a garden in that area,” Johnson said, but the idea for a memorial garden was proposed by local historians.

The renovation cost more than $22,000, with funding from the community, alumni of the school and a state grant, Johnson said.

Johnson hopes the public uses the garden, and that the nearby Waverly branch of the Enoch Pratt Free Library keeps with the educational theme and hosts reading programs there. Waverly Main Street has programs planned for fall, including a fundraiser to help sustain the garden. “If you allow a vacant lot to go down, it causes people to not fix up buildings,” Millett said. “It’s a keystone to that area, a lot easier way to get [revitalization] going, it’s contagious.”

Millett said people owning surrounding buildings have already begun to fix them up, which he credited to the garden project.

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Los Angeles Conservation Corps Recognizes Executive Director Emeritus Bruce Saito

Story appears on LACC Facebook page.

At last month’s graduation, special recognition was given to Bruce Saito, our Executive Director Emeritus, for his founding contributions and continual support in making high school diplomas a reality for 1,660 corpsmembers to date. From the beginning, Bruce has helped pioneer our work-school system that is now widely used across many conservation corps around the country. In his honor, the Adult Corps High School Campus has been renamed to Saito High School. Thank you Bruce for your dedication to LA’s youth!

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Northwest Youth Corps Crew honored at Sandy Ridge BLM Celebration

Article appears on Northwest Youth Corps website.

On July 8th, the US Bureau of Land Management Leadership Team held a press conference at the Sandy Ridge Trailhead to celebrate the impact of the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF).  LWCF funds helped fund the removal of a dam, restore the Sandy watershed, and create the Sandy Ridge Trail system, which has become known as a world class mountain bike destination, which sees over 120,000 visitors per year.  Partners in this effort include the Bureau of Land Management, Western Rivers Conservancy, International Mountain Bike Association, Northwest Youth Corps, Clackamas County, and Ant Farm Youth Corps.  Pictured is the Blue crew with BLM Leaders, including Neil Kornze – BLM Director and Jerry Perez – OR/WA BLM Director. Northwest Youth Corps has been working on the Sandy Ridge project since 2009.