University of Wyoming Students Take Part in 18 Wyoming Conservation Corps Projects
Article appears on University of Wyoming website.
June 19, 2014 — University of Wyoming students are gaining valuable leadership and outdoor skills this summer while working on 18 Wyoming Conservation Corps (WCC) projects ranging from constructing trails at Big Horn National Recreation Area and bark beetle spraying in Sinks Canyon State Park to conducting historic restoration work at Fort Bridger.
Administered by Residence Life and Dining Services in UW’s Division of Student Affairs, WCC is a grant-supported program that engages students in conservation-based projects throughout the state, says Director Patrick Call. WCC has been supported by the Corporation for National and Community Services’ AmeriCorps program, Wyoming State Legislature and cooperating partners including the Bureau of Land Management, Wyoming Division of State Parks and Historic Sites, national parks and some industry, corporate and nonprofit organizations.
This summer, three crews already have begun work to complete 18 10-day projects. Patrick Harrington, WCC project coordinator, says 10 of the projects are sponsored by the State Parks and Historic Sites, traditionally the cooperating agency that supports the most WCC work projects each year.
“Some students have told me that working on WCC projects has been a life-changing experience,” Call says. “They are able to go out there and connect with the land and the environment, and be able to do things and give back to the greater good.”
Founded in 2006, the WCC continues the civil service tradition of the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s and Youth Conservation Corps of the 1970s. Nearly 300 students have completed more than 200 projects relating to energy, wildlife, recreation, grazing, timber management, property restoration and maintenance, and water and air quality.
Projects being completed this summer are:
May 26-June 4 — Beetle kill mitigation at Sinks Canyon State Park; fencing work at Red Canyon Ranch; and pine beetle mitigation at Guernsey State Park.
June 9-18 — Two trail construction projects at Hot Springs State Park; beetle kill mitigation at Curt Gowdy State Park.
June 23-July 2 — Trail construction with the Casper Rotary Club at Bridle Trail on Casper Mountain; trail construction projects at both Platte River trails and Glendo State Park.
July 7-16 — Fuel thinning and fencing at Devon State Lands near the Green Mountains in Fremont County; trails construction at Guernsey State Park; and fuels thinning for a UW/Forest Service research site that studies how forests respond to fire and treatments to increase the rate of recovery.
July 21-30 — Trail construction and Curt Gowdy State Park; and two projects to restore trails and a historic orchard at Big Horn National Recreation Area.
Aug. 4-13 — Historic restoration at Fort Bridger; fencing and sage grouse inventory for the Buffalo Bureau of Land Management; and fencing at Buffalo Bill State Park.
Students working on the WCC crews, listed by hometown and major area of study, are:
Boise, Idaho — Lea Steiner, nutrition and dietetics.
Buffalo — Natalie Perkins, psychology.
Cape Charles, Va. — Clelia Sheppard, psychology.
Casper — Shane Nielsen, physiology.
Centennial, Colo. — Lindsay Patrick, engineering.
Cheyenne — Gaige Braden, kinesiology.
Colorado Springs, Colo. — Karl Maes, undeclared.
Evanston — John Evans, physics.
Grand Junction, Colo. — Travis Keune, rangeland ecology.
Green River — Tiffany Adamski, English.
Houston, Texas — Ross Bulawa, undeclared.
Laramie — Alanna Elder, ecology.
Lincoln, Neb. — Madison Graulty, civil engineering.
London, Ohio — Matthew Pritchard, rangeland ecology.
Longmont, Colo. — Seymone O’Brien, ecology and environment and natural resources.
Loveland, Colo. — Katie Brose, music education.
San Diego, Calif. — Billy Sanford, journalism.
Scotland, S.D. — Rhiannon Jakopak, wildlife and fisheries biology.
Scottsbluff, Neb. — Ben Weibe, communications.
Sheridan — Phil Klebba, environment and natural resources and ecosystem management.
St. Louis, Mo. — Jim Fried, geography and environment and natural resources; Brian Walser, environmental studies; and Nancy Davidson, geography.
Venice, Fla. — Maggie LeFrance, political science.
Photo:
Wyoming Conservation Corps crew members work on a fencing project during an orientation week at Curt Gowdy State Park. From left are Sam Murray of Casper, a field supervisor; Seymone O’Brien, Longmont, Colo.; and Madison Graulty, Lincoln, Neb. (WCC Photo)
Connecticut Conservation Corps’ Work Recognized
Article, written by Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, appears on Waterbury West’s Hamlet Hub. Published June 21, 2014.
This week, Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) Commissioner Robert Klee recognized the work of men and women who helped improve state parks while learning valuable job skills as part of the Connecticut Conservation Corps program (CCC).
At an event on Tuesday to meet the CCC workers and see some of the work that they have done at Rocky Neck State Park, East Lyme, Commissioner Klee said, “The original CCC helped transform our national and state park system, including parks in Connecticut, and provided valuable experience for the young men who participated. This tradition continues with today’s emphasis on people of all ages looking for new employment opportunities and to learn new skills. The work done by these crews does not replace work tasks by DEEP employees but rather complements them, allowing state workers to focus on other immediate needs.”
“A successful career requires knowledge in planning, establishing goals, problem-solving, communication and project management – all critical workforce skills that play an important role in the Connecticut Conservation Corps experience,” said State Labor Commissioner Sharon M. Palmer. “The knowledge gained from the CCC program is providing these men and women with invaluable training that can be successfully applied to future employment opportunities.”
The CCC program is a partnership between DEEP, the Department of Labor (DOL), two Workforce Investment Boards (the Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board, and The Workplace from the Southwest CT Workforce Investment Area), as well as community partner agencies such as EASTCONN, a regional educational service center that provides services to schools, educators, students, and adults.
The crews at Rocky Neck and another crew in the western portion of the State began work in July 2013 utilizing Storm Sandy National Emergency Grant funds for municipalities and state parks provided by the US Department of Labor through a subsidized employment program. The two work crews were organized and hired by EASTCONN, which received funding through the Eastern Connecticut Workforce Investment Board (EWIB). EASTCONN was responsible for recruitment and hiring of crew leaders, hiring long-term unemployed crew members, and providing necessary training to the crews.
The work of the two crews included repairing damage to the boardwalk at Rocky Neck State Park as well as cleaning up damage at other state parks such as Bluff Point State Park, Groton and major sections of the Airline Trail State Park, Thompson. In western Connecticut, Storm Sandy damage cleanup was performed at Silver Sands State Park, Milford and Indian Well State Parks, Shelton.
Workers completing the program have been trained in OSHA Construction Certification, First Aid and CPR, knowledge of chain saw use, carpentry, as well as trail design and maintenance. This program training is geared toward providing workers with skills that can be transferred to future careers.
“What these people achieved goes far beyond improvements made to our parks and forests,” Commissioner Klee added. “The occupational and specific skills training they are gaining will provide them with the experience and knowledge to build a foundation for future employment opportunities. They are also learning the importance of teamwork and communication, and gaining decision-making and leadership skills – qualities that will follow them the rest of their lives.”
History of the CCC in Connecticut
Throughout the 1930s and early 1940s Connecticut had 22 CCC camps and approximately 200 to 250 young men lived at each site. Participants went to work in what were at that time, largely undeveloped state parks.
Workers built trails, roads, fire towers and picnic shelters and planted trees in many parks. Specific projects included building dams that created swimming areas at Chatfield Hollow State Park, Killingworth and Pachaug State Forest, Voluntown; clearing the recreation area for Squantz Pond, New Fairfield; improvements to Hammonasset Beach State Park, Madison; and the construction of the forest rangers’ homes at Shenipsit, Chatfield Hollow, Pachaug and Tunxis state parks.
CCC Across the Nation
Nationally, CCC stood for the Civilian Conservation Corps, which was established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt shortly after he took office to help lift the nation out of the Depression. Nicknamed Roosevelt’s “Tree Army,” the national CCC created work at a time when jobs were scarce and to helped complete environmental conservation projects in an era when soil erosion and deforestation had ravaged much of the nation’s landscape.
Nearly 3.5 million young men were enrolled in the national CCC from 1933 until 1942, when it was disbanded as manpower needs for World War II grew. Young men ages 17 to 21, as well as veterans of the Spanish American War and World War I, were eligible to serve. They signed up for six-month stints and lived in military-style camps run by military officers. They were paid $1 a day and required to send $25 of their pay back home to their families every month.
Montana Conservation Corps Working to Protect Prairie Dogs
Article, written by James J. Crumpler, III, appeared on the MCC Krew Blog on June 13, 2014.
We are very few. Six people, four crew members, myself included, and two crew leaders make us the smallest crew with the toughest assignments. We are the backcountry crew. This past assignment was based in Thunder Basin National Grasslands. Working alongside the United States Forest Service (USFS), we were told a little of the geography of the area and the nature of the nine day work period.
Thunder Basin, as the name would suggest, is a geographic depression. Towards the north are the Rochelle Hills, small buttes studded with short grasses and cactus with a flat top, and you follow those hills around to make a horse shoe shaped ridge of buttes and low mountains. These hills define Thunder Basin’s grasslands. The horse shoe of ridges stretches in a curve from the north to the southwest, maybe 12 miles from point to point, and everything in between are rolling hills, cactuses, short buffalo grasses, Pronghorn, rabbits, snakes and Prairie Dog holes covering the ground from the base of the ridges in the north to the far horizon in the southeast. However, many of those holes have been abandoned, which, as the USFS explained, was the reason for our presence.
Bubonic Plague, or Black Death, has scarred the European consciousness since it emerged in the 14th century. It still exists today, in various forms, and has recently decimated the Prairie Dog population in Thunder Basin. The Prairie Dog is a social animal; it lives and thrives in large, sprawling, underground communities, which makes any disease particularly virulent. In addition, the ecosystem of the plains is dependent on the Prairie Dog. It provides habitat and food for rattlesnakes, rabbits, and, in the turbulent world of conservation politics, will sustain the reintroduction of the endangered Black Footed Ferret in the region. Without a significant Prairie Dog population, such a reintroduction is politically impossible, and environmentally unsustainable.
Our job was to spray every Prairie Dog hole we found with Deltamethrin, a mild insecticide to kill the plague carrying fleas. It is delivered in a white chalky powder with a machine strapped around the shoulder that, when turned on, makes a loud “BZZZZZ” sound. So there we were, six people walking across the prairie within ten feet of each other spraying Prairie Dog holes. Every now and then, we would find a hole and reach down with a long pole to apply this powder with a machine that sounded like an angry hornet’s nest every time we turned it on. The powder would sometimes clog the machine and explode in a cloud all over us, making whoever was holding the machine a snowman in the middle of a semi-arid plain. It was a strange and laughable site, but soon the heat and dust of the day bore down on the workers again, and we trudged on. Sometimes it was difficult to see the point of the work, but we did it to the best of our ability and with as much enthusiasm as we could muster. The lack of enthusiasm was probably the result of too little shade and not enough water.
Water is the most precious thing on the plains. It was not unusual to go through 4 liters of water per person, per day, which comes to about one gallon of water. Whatever amount you can carry, is how much you will need. It was dry with a high breeze, so you did not feel the sweat trickle down your face, but you tasted the salt on your lips. Chapped lips, tasting of salt and grime, combined with packs and a machine strapped about the shoulders made for long days, with water being the only conciliatory drink of choice. Coffee was a luxury for the mornings and evenings, and water was the mainstay of long dusty days. Dehydration was the greatest internal threat, the greatest external threat were the rattlesnakes.
Prairie Dog holes provide habitat for snakes, both venomous and non-venomous. We saw so many snakes that it became a common, almost daily, joke to allude to references of “Snakes on a Plain” to slightly paraphrase the movie. Thirty Rattlesnakes, five Bull Snakes, two Hog-Nosed Snakes, and two Garter snakes were the final tallies of snakes in our nine-day work period. Snakes are cold-blooded; they use the environment to maintain their body temperature. If it is hot, they will seek the shade and burrow deep into Prairie Dog holes to escape the sun. The heat makes them sluggish and despondent, except when you are about to spray the hole they happen to residing in, then it is wise to move quickly out of the way. When it is cooler, with cloud cover, they are active. The best working conditions for people also are the best working conditions for snakes. It became a kind of bleak, humor-less game to see how many rattlesnakes we would find on cool days. Not on purpose, of course, but snakes were a concern that we were all too aware of on the plain. Nerves become much tighter after seeing three rattlesnakes in as many minutes.
The best moments were after the days were ended. We would pile into our rig that is named Stella, and drive back to camp. A slight break period comes first. It was during such periods that folks switched from their progressively dirtier work clothes into something cool and soothing…slippers, shorts, t-shirts, anything and everything that was comfortable. Some would massage their feet, others would take a nap, and still more would simply lie down and contemplate. Relaxation was different for everyone, but everyone pretty much kept to him or herself. Dinner broke the lull. Food and fire were the mainstays of the evening. Two people would work on the meal, two more would collect firewood to build a fire, and the other two would dread cleaning up after dinner…or at least that is what went through my mind. Fire tended to be a salve to the wounds and nerves of the day. After dinner and cleanup, we would gather around the fire to shake the dust off our minds from the day. We told stories, and yarned about the past and the present and the future. It was a time to laugh. We were hyper-critical and hyper-sympathetic towards each other. One by one we would tell our tales, and one memorable evening it stole into my mind to sing Italian Opera…there were some strange evenings.
All told we sprayed about 29,000+ holes, a new record. The previous record was something like 16-18,000. Very few things can drive a crew to better performance than competition. We did 29,000, a high mark, and one that, if we are lucky, will hold for the remainder of the summer. If not, then another crew will have the honor of saving more Prairie Dogs. It is a strange honor to possess, but we are proud of the work we do. Sometimes, saving those little dogs on the prairie is the best work a person can accomplish.
Ice Cream in the Backcountry with Montana Conservation Corps
Article, written by corpsmember Jakob Wyder, appears in the MCC Kcrew Blog.
If someone had asked me to describe my best ice-cream-eating-experience prior to our Foys to Blacktail hitch, I would have had to think for an awkwardly long time before resurrecting some partially sweet, partially bitter; semi-work-appropriate memory involving my ex-girlfriend and a pint of Ben & Jerry’s. This really isn’t the time or place for that story, but now I can tell a much better one that includes all of the YCLs from Western Wildlands and Northern Rockies and a happy birthday girl/SYCL who loves Sweet Peaks.
During the week of May 7th our gang of WW YCLs joined forces with our N-Rock counterparts, who wish they were even half as sweet as us. Whoops, I didn’t mean to let that one slip out..just a joke, love you N-Rock! Anyway, we were all stoked to get a chance to escape the office and do some real, hands-on trail work south of Kalispell near the town of Lakeside. The project that we were hopping onto has been going on for over a year now and has been worked on exclusively by MCC youth crews! A group of community members is constructing a 60-mile loop trail that will connect Lakeside to a small, family-run ski mountain called Blacktail. The community members involved are all avid mountain bikers, so it should not come as a surprise that the trail is designed to provide an exhilarating two-wheeled ride.
Our work consisted of fixing some drains in the trail and digging new tread to continue extending the trail to Blacktail. It served as a valuable learning experience for all of us because in order to dig new tread you must know all about how trails work and everything that goes into their construction. A two-foot width, proper sideslope, 45 degrees of backslope and a well-defined hinge are some of the many specifications and vocabulary words we deal with. The project also required lots of dirt to be moved and debris to be cleared, which provided us with a chance to strenuously work our bodies and get nice and dirty.
We also got a chance to endure the elements. Our first morning we woke up to several inches of freshly-fallen snow! This backcountry surprise didn’t discourage us in the least, in fact it seemed to highly boost group morale. The next day there wasn’t a cloud in the sky and all of the snow quickly melted. On our third day we witnessed our drains in action and tried to keep warm beneath a bone-chilling rain.
Okay, so we had a great few days getting our hands dirty on the trail, but you’re probably still wondering where the ice cream comes into play. On May 7th, our second full day in the field, it became known that it was Britney’s birthday. “Man, we dropped the ball on that one! I knew I was forgetting something!” Kyle yelled. We all felt the same way, ashamed for collectively forgetting to provide any sort of gift to our wonderful WW SYCL.
“I KNEW we should have bought the birthday cake oreos!” Sara lamented, as she did push for them at the Orange Street Food Farm but no one else liked the idea.
“We’ll take you out to the Old Post for dinner,” We suggested, but Britney wasn’t too enthused. “…Or SWEET PEAKS for ice cream!” At this suggestion Britney’s eyes lit up the way they always do when ice cream becomes the topic of conversation. Moments after we suggested this, Lauryn the N-Rock FPC appeared on the trail with a white paper bag in her hand. “Hey guys! HAPPY BIRTHDAY BRITNEY!” She opened the bag and pulled out three pints of none other than Sweet Peaks ice cream- Britney’s favorite! That’s right, ice cream in the backcountry, several miles down the trail, all thanks to Lauren! We took a moment to celebrate and eat some of the best ice cream on earth while enjoying the serenity of Montana wilderness and a world-class view of Flathead Lake. “This is my best birthday ever!” Britney exclaimed ecstatically.
So that’s the coolest place I’ve ever eaten ice cream and probably the most I’ve ever enjoyed it. Ice cream, like most things, tastes way better in the woods, especially after a hard day of swinging tools and digging new tread. Also, celebrating a birthday on hitch is always lots of fun. In case you take ice cream as seriously as we do and are wondering what flavors Lauren brought up, they were: salted caramel, grasshopper mint and, of course, cupcake. This was certainly better than a night with Ben & Jerry and my ex. Thanks Lauren!
Southeast Youth Corps “Girls on Wheels” Program Gets Off To A Great Start
Article, written by Program Leader Meagan Daniel, appears on Southeast Youth Corps’ website.
Last week, the Girls on Wheels program, which consists of ten girls ages 12-16, started without a hitch. The girls participate in an environmental stewardship program that includes conservation education, service-learning projects, and a progressive skills mountain bike curriculum. The young women are being guiding through the mountain bike curriculum three days per week. Within this program the girls will be photo journaling their experience, focusing on their mountain bike and recreation experience, as well as highlighting environmental issues relevant to an urban landscape. Additionally, I work to foster positive mentorship, and personal and professional development amongst the members.
While maintaining a safe environment, this gives the girls the opportunity to expand the know-how of a sport that stretches beyond the streets and curbs outside their homes and will also grow a respect for the trails. For many, mountain biking brings a “sense of freedom” and an escape from the hassles of life. For these young-women, I believe it will represent overcoming adversity and limitations and the testing of one’s confidence. Just like the trails, life presents many sharp turns, rocky paths, roots to hurdle, downhill elations, up-hill battles, and moments of new accomplishments. But each requires proper handling skills to make it to the other side. I want to properly be able to guide these girls on the trails in correlation to life outside the trails. And get our hands dirty while doing it! There is certainly joy to be found in sharing something you enjoy with someone who may not otherwise have had the opportunity to discover it also.
Day one: The van pulls up to the Spears Ave trailhead at Stringers Ridge. The girls jumped out and immediately began excitingly asking, “Are we going to ride today?” One was already asking if we were going to Raccoon Mountain, which is one of the more challenging mountain bike destinations in Chattanooga. Enthusiastic group! In the first week the young women were adapting to the basics skills of mountain biking and it was success!
The girls came up with the name “Spoke Squad” after we did an activity using a drawing of a wheel on a poster board (yes, my wheel looks more like a beach ball!). Inside the wheel we came up with words that described how we wanted our outlook to be during the next five weeks or things we wanted to accomplish. On the outside of the wheel we listed negative things that we did not want as part of our program. I explained to them that our group would act like a wheel: If one spoke is out of balance or broken then the whole wheel is “out of true” and cannot function and therefore the bike will not perform properly. This stressed the importance that even though mountain biking seems like an individual sport, we were going to function like a team and going to help each other accomplish our goals. Each one of us represents a spoke and has a crucial role in the involvement and progression of the program.
The girls learned the proper way to fit a helmet and the importance of safety and wearing a helmet. I fitted the girls for their bikes and taught them the “ABC Quick Check”, which is an acronym for: Air, Brakes, Chain, Quick Release, and Drop Check. This is a five-step process for making sure the bike is in working condition before we ride. The girls then learned road safety, how to signal to cars, how to call out obstacles and hazards in the road, and to communicate with fellow riders in the group while riding on the road or in the trail systems.
On day two we had our intro into conservation: what it means, how it affects them and our communities, and the role we play. They began by doing their own research on the laptops about the topic; it began to trigger ideas about what the term encompassed. The girls were finding photos of nature, wildlife, state and national parks, and groups and organizations that help protect our lands. For the photojournalism portion of the day we went to Stringer’s Ridge and let them hike and take photos of the urban-forested park.
I conducted a decomposing activity in which the girls had to place various objects with the amount of years they thought it took for a certain object or materials to decompose. This really made them think about the ways things they use daily affect our environment, like an aluminum can, which can take up to 500 years to decompose. This activity leads into a discussion about Leave No Trace. “LNT” refers to a set of outdoor ethics that teaches principles designed to promote conservation in the outdoors. The organization Leave No Trace exists to educate people about their recreational impact on nature as well as the principles of Leave No Trace to prevent and minimize such impacts. Leave No Trace is built on seven principles: plan ahead and prepare, travel and camp on durable surfaces, dispose of waste properly, leave what you find, minimize campfire impacts, respect wildlife, and be considerate of other visitors. The seven principles have been adapted to different activities, ecosystems and environments.
Day three we had a “bike rodeo” and I began teaching basic handling techniques for riding a mountain bike. How to properly mount and dismount. They practiced the four proper positions on a bike: climbing, coasting, downhill, and attack. They began to learn the basics of cornering, taking turns, braking, and how their bodies balance relates to the controlling of a bike. We then took these skills to Renaissance and Coolidge Park, where they began to get comfortable on the bike. But one thing we didn’t cover- timing of when to pedal through sprinklers and not get wet! Some of us enjoyed the cool down!
The most exciting part of day four was our Fix a Flat Clinic. I brought all the front wheels of the bikes and taught from beginning to end how to remove a wheel, fix a flat, and put wheel back on the bike. Each girl was able to do this skill on her own by the end of the clinic. They enjoyed this so much they wanted to have a flat tire changing contest. The winner was able to change a flat in just 2 minutes and 18 seconds! One young woman even went home and fixed her little brother’s flat! And that’s what we are aiming for: to instill the confidence in the girls to take what they have learned and feel empowered to use these skills.
Day five arrives and “Spoke squad” was anxious to get out and ride further than the parking lot and parks of North Shore. We traveled across Market Street Bridge towards downtown and headed out on the Riverwalk. They loved the sense of freedom it brought and I kept hearing them say “This is so fun!” Towards the end of the ride, the exhaustion of the week set in and the pace slowed down. This led into a perfect opportunity to explain that any new challenge comes with adjustments and difficulties. I was able to reinforce that the first hurdle has been overcome. The effort was put it in and the longer they stick with it the better it will get! They thought riding a few miles would be a long distance; they were shocked to hear they each traveled 8.6 miles on their bike that day! This brought many jokes of sore legs and quotes like “I’m sweating in places no one should sweat!” and “I’m going to Walgreen’s to get some epsom salt and am going to soak then take a nap!”
Week one is accomplished and “Spoke Squad” is already on a roll!
More favorite moments from the girls….
“My favorite part was the gear thing. I like playing with the gears; it was fun. I learned that when you ride a mountain bike that you have to make sure your gear is in the correct spot. You cant have gears in little-little or big-big because that will make your chain stretch. When you ride you have to switch gears.”
“My favorite part about the biking was learning how to do different things, even though my mom and me use to always ride bikes. Some of the stuff was easy but half the stuff I didn’t even know about. Like doing the climbing, I knew how to do it but I just didn’t know what it was called or how to do the different positions.”
Stay tuned for more updates!
-Meagan Daniel
Girls On Wheels Program Leader
Maine Conservation Corps Receives $352,000 in AmeriCorps Funding
Article, written by Jym St. Pierre, appears on Maine Environmental News.
The Corporation for National and Community Service has awarded $1.29 million in grants for 2014 to three Maine AmeriCorps organizations, including $351,583 for the Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry’s Maine Conservation Corps (MCC). Maine Conservation Corps AmeriCorps members work with local communities to create and maintain sustainable trails in Maine State Parks and public lands.
Governor Paul R. LePage welcomed the news that more young people will have the opportunity to work in Maine communities. “This is an excellent opportunity to serve Maine communities and get the skills and confidence that comes from working with others to achieve goals,” said Governor LePage. “The Maine Conservation Corps has done tremendous work making positive contributions to our great State and Nation.”
Maine Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry (DACF) Commissioner Walt Whitcomb also welcomed news of the award and highlighted the important work that the MCC does on behalf of Maine citizens. “81 AmeriCorps national service members will help build infrastructure in our public places that generations of visitors can enjoy,” said Whitcomb. “With hard work they build the trails, clear the brush and learn hands-on conservation techniques. Since 1983, MCC-supported projects have helped make America’s beautiful parks more accessible to visitors.”
The MCC’s four-fold mission is to: accomplish conservation projects, create conservation employment, provide conservation education, and engage conservation volunteers. Some of the scheduled summer trail projects that AmeriCorps national service members will accomplish include:
Southern Maine
Vaughan Woods State Park, South Berwick Bradbury Mountain State Park, Pownal Pineland Public Land Unit, Gray/New Gloucester
Northern Maine
Deboullie Mountain/Deboullie Public Reserved Land, Saint Francis Barnard Mountain/Elliotsville Plantation, Inc., Patten Number 4 Mountain/Little Moose/Eagle Rock, Greenville
Western Maine
Tumbledown Mountain, Weld Mt. Blue State Park, Weld Grafton Notch State Park, Newry
Eastern Maine
Schoodic Woods, Winter Harbor
The Maine AmeriCorps national service positions are among $205 million in grants across the country that will allow more than 43,000 Americans to serve as AmeriCorps national service members. These funds will support over 280 organizations engaged in national service, including Habitat for Humanity, the American Red Cross, the Maine Conservation Corps, Catholic Charities, Bangor AmeriCorps Opportunity Collaborative, LearningWorks AIMS HIGH, and many others.
More information on the 2014 AmeriCorps national grants and the 2014 national grantee list can found at https://www.nationalservice.gov.
More information on the Maine Conservation Corps can be found at https://www.maine.gov/doc/parks/mcc.
Information on applying for a term of AmeriCorps national service can be found at my.americorps.gov.
Civilian Conservation Corps Museum Reopens at Cheaha after 18 years
Article appears on WKRG News.
DELTA, Ala. (AP) — Tammy Power tried her hardest not to cry as she greeted guests to the Civilian Conservation Corps museum for the first time in 18 years.
“This has been my dream,” said Power, the superintendent for Cheaha State Park, which on Saturday hosted a ribbon cutting ceremony for the long-closed museum dedicated to the workers who helped build the roads and buildings on top of Alabama’s highest point. “This was on my bucket list.”
As part of a statewide celebration of the 75th anniversary of Alabama’s state park system, Cheaha State Park welcomed visitors to see the beginnings of how the mountain came to be a destination for campers, hikers and tourists.
In the 1930s, hundreds of young men came to the mountain as part of the Civilian Conservation Corps project, a New Deal program that gave work to unemployed, single men ages 18 to 25 during the depression. At Cheaha, the corps built campsites, lodges, roads and the observation tower, which now houses the museum dedicated to their history.
“I can’t help but wonder if those young men knew what they were building would still be around 75 years later,” said Rob Grant, assistant director for Alabama State Parks. “I think this is a great way to honor them.”
The museum, which includes tools used by the corps, as well as cots they slept in and blankets used at their camps, originally closed in 1996 for renovations. Power said the park needed a bigger room to hold the material they had. In the meantime, the park displayed other exhibits while working to finish the museum.
Another reason for the delay, Power said, was in honor of the corps. Everything in the museum, including the display cases, was built by hand by the park’s staff.
“We wanted to make sure everything was in-house, just like how this place was built,” Power said. “That was very important to us.”
Speakers at the event included Cleburne County Probate Judge Ryan Robertson and Alabama Sen. Gerald Dial. Everyone who spoke mentioned how important a role Cheaha had played in their lives.
Dial, a Lineville native, worked at a concession stand on the mountain during his summer breaks from school while in college, living in the lodge of the mountain for months at a time.
“I’m one of the most fortunate people alive because every morning when I sit at my breakfast table, from my window I can see the top of the mountain,” Dial said. “It reminds me of what a great country I live in.”
Many in attendance Saturday were related to the men who built the park. Ethan Branch, from Clay County, said his grandfather would like to tell stories about how tough it was to build the roads which led to the mountain. The personal touch adds something special to his own visits, he said.
“It’s special to see the legacy that he left behind here,” Branch said. “He worked hard to be to able support his family, and it was a tough job. I admire him.”
The celebration will continue next weekend when the park hosts the opening of a new campsite on Saturday. The new camping area was the same one used by the corps when they were building the park.
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Information from: The Anniston Star, https://www.annistonstar.com/
Southeast Youth Corps Introduces Their First-Ever AmeriCorps Conservation Crew: the Bobincas
Article, written by Corpsmember Joe Sherman, appears on Southeast Youth Corp’s website.
The week started for the first ever Americorps SYC crew with a drizzle of rain, but our spirits were not dampened at all! Under the stalwart guidance of our trusty leaders Randolph “The Rock Man” Hudson and Ellen “Aces” Baker, we spent the first part of Monday morning at the office going through training and basic orientation. Sarah, Molly, Taylor, Joe, Josh, and Vicky are our names, and we soon joined together under the team name “Bobincas,” a name which will hopefully live on into legacy. The crew lost no time in meshing well, and upon arriving at the work site and meeting the delightfully soft-spoken and enthusiastic Ranger Bobby Fulcher, the heartbeats of all of us were quickly elevated by the prospect of beginning work, and later with the physical efforts demanded of us.
Our primary task all week involved shifting large stones to create a rock staircase down which nature enthusiasts might trod for generations to come. The Rock Man called it a “hundred year staircase,” and we all soon learned the precision and detail that such a task required. Ranger Bob pointed out that such staircases are reminiscent of the Incan stone wonders of Machu Pichu, and thus the name Bobincas was born. There were several core components for the corps to incorporate into the hillside corporeity, namely creating more than just a little “crush” by crushing small rocks into smaller rocks, “rock-shopping” for the stones that had the correct dimensions and features for each section of the staircase, moving the stones from their various locations via rock sling, teamwork, and brute force, and the actual act of using crush, rock bar, double-jack, shovel, and pick mattock to securely set the stones in their new homes among their new stone friends.
Many highlights of the week were experienced, not least of all the morning stretch and exercise circle, the verbal distribution of local lore by Ranger Bob, and the formal expulsion by the Rangers of many trespassing wayfarers who had bypassed the “Park Closed Until July 1” signs. We installed thirteen steps in total, rerouted a creek, and helped delineate trails. All of us drastically increased our proficiency with this particular form of landscape architecture, as well as our skills with the sundry tools involved in it’s realization. Team Bobincas has set a firm foundation for the remainder of our 8-week program, a foundation as strong as the keystone steps on our Incan escalator.
Vermont Youth Conservation Corps School Crew Builds a Disc Golf Course
Article written by Melody McKnight and appears in the VYCC U32-Montpelier High School Crew Blog
So much has happened in such a short time! After finishing at Osprey Hill Farm earlier in the month, our crew was asked by the U-32 Athletics department to help in the creation of a bona-fide disc golf course for the school. Previously all disc-golf on school grounds had been played using two strips of flagging tape wrapped around trees to indicate hole locations. While somewhat functional, this left a lot to be desired by anyone who had played on a real course.
Our first task was to tour the proposed course with Steve and Jeff and determine if any of the holes should/could be shifted. During this process we also flagged out approximately how wide each “green” around the hole would need to be to create a safe space for players.
We spent time shifting a few of the holes to be more visible or easily accessible from the trail to make the course as user friendly as possible. Once we finished our tour of the locations, we started in on the course.
We averaged about 1.5 holes/tees each day for the whole project. This may not sound like a lot, but each hole was a 20 foot diameter circle (314 square feet!) that needed to be leveled, cleared of roots, and brushed down to mineral soil. The tees, while smaller, were often situated next to large trees, and so there were many more roots to contend with while shaping them.
A few of excavation sites turned up some forest critters, which we did our best to relocate away from any holes or tees.
To avoid the forest underbrush reclaiming the holes, we needed to cover each clearing with wood chips. Rather than pay for woodchips to surface a total of more than 3000 square feet of hole/tee area, we opted to collect debris from the forest and utilize U-32’s woodchipper to create our surfacing material. Many thanks to Charlie, who helped us greatly in chipping and collecting the wood for this project.
On the last day of the project, our students helped Alpha-test the course and determine what some of the pars should be by playing through all nine holes together.
Currently, the course still needs to have baskets installed, but this will hopefully be happening over the summer and then the U-32 Disc Golf course will be ready for action! Stay tuned!
