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Senate Holds Hearing on Public Lands Service Corps Act of 2013

Yesterday, the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Public Lands Subcommittee held a hearing on the Public Lands Service Corps of Act of 2013. Subcommittee Chairman Manchin (WV) presided over the legislative hearing on 20 public lands bills.

Senators Reid and Baucus each testified in support of public land bills specific to Nevada and Montana. The administration provided two witnesses for the hearing; Jim Pena, Associate Deputy Chief, National Forrest System, USFS, and Jamie Connell, Acting Deputy Director, Bureau of Land Management, DOI. The administration’s testimony included strong support S. 360 which they explained “will help fulfill their commitment to build a 21st Century Conservation Service Corps (21CSC).” The Public Lands Service Coalition Director of Government Relations, Joe Gersen, submitted written testimony in support of the legislation. The legislation will next move to be marked up by the committee and the Public Lands Service Coalition expects that to happen in late May.

There is still time for you to reach out to your Senators and Representative and ask them to support the Public Lands Service Corps Act of 2013. The Sierra Club, a key ally and member of the Public Lands Service Coalition, has setup a fast way to send your Members of Congress an email showing support for the Public Lands Service Corps Act. This tool is a great way for your board members, alums, and friends of your organization to express their support of the Public Lands Service Corps Act. It only take a few minutes to send a message in three easy steps, click “take action” below to get started. Please share with your networks. Please take action today!

Sierra Club Currents: News and Action Center

Take Action: Employ Youth to Protect Our Natural Heritage

Our public lands are facing a backlog of $25 billion worth of essential maintenance projects. At the same time, the youth unemployment rate hovers at 13 percent. The Public Lands Service Corps Act would authorize the Departments of Agriculture, Commerce, and Interior to administer conservation corps activities on our public lands.

Tell Congress to put young Americans to work protecting and restoring our public lands. Pass the Public Lands Service Corps Act of 2013.

[Video] Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell Highlights The Corps Network and Student Conservation Association for Volunteer Opportunities in Earth Day Chat

On Monday of this week, our new Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell participated in a special Earth Day webchat.

When asked a question about the Department of Interior partnering with nonprofits and corporations to boost volunteerism on public lands, here’s what Secretary Jewell had to say:

American YouthWorks’ Parc Smith Profiled by Austin News Site

American YouthWorks’ Parc Smith builds on a family legacy of fairness

By Michael Barnes
American-Statesman Staff

In rural Erath County, white townsmen in hoods once threatened Parc Smith’s grandfather.

“They demanded: ‘Why are you employing a black man when there’s white men out of work,’” Smith, 41, recounts. “He called them out by name: ‘Billy, Johnny, Bob, I’m going to count to three and start shooting.’ At two, he started shooting. They left and never messed with him again.”

Smith, CEO of a rejuvenated American YouthWorks, which blends education, service and jobs training, learned about social decency from an early age. His father, who joined civil rights protests at the University of Texas during the 1960s, taught at historically black colleges. His mother came from a long line of Texas workers who helped their neighbors in any way that they could.

“I was always taught to be good to all people,” he says. “Race and color, economic status don’t matter.”

Once a prospective forest ranger who served on conservation crews, Smith’s personal search for a way to help others took him outdoors. It’s easy to imagine the relaxed and wholesome-looking Smith, 41, as a happy-go-lucky kid. He camped with the YMCA, which employed his mother in Waco, before heading to the Dublin and Stephenville area.

“My parents were very supportive,” he says. “And pretty hands-off. I was free to do what I wanted.”

Playing football in a small Texas town also gave him something of a free pass from serious trouble. Popular, he was asked by his classmates to speak out against the school district’s dress code. Generally a respectful student, he wore a T-shirt to school that read: “Only a fascist would tell a kid how to wear his hair.”

Continue Reading at Statesman.com

Cool Map Shows Where AmeriCorps NCCC Crews are Working Nationwide

Each week, AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) updates a map that shows where their crews are deployed nationwide. While there are 5 major training campuses for NCCC, it’s clear from the map that the impact of this residential Corps program stretches far and wide beyond those areas!

Learn more about AmeriCorps NCCC

How the Founder of Vermont Youth Conservation Corps got his Start in the Corps World

Taken from the Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa newsletter, Corps Update, April 2013

Thomas Hark’s Corps experience stretches back to the federal Youth Conservation Corps, where he served as a crew leader in 1979 in Young Harris, Ga. It was an experience that changed his life. Hark applied to Minnesota’s state youth program a few years later and was hired as the camp director in 1984 and 1985. He was instrumental in bringing together what were then two summer youth camps: one based at St. Croix State Park and one for deaf and hard-of-hearing members at Tettegouche State Park. Today’s Summer Youth Corps remains an integrated program with about 15% deaf or hard-of-hearing participants.

Hark went on to found the Vermont Youth Conservation Corps in 1986. That first year, four youth served for six weeks. Since then, programs have grown steadily and now include a year-round program for the blind, high school leadership, a robust traditional summer program and agricultural leadership/farming programs. Hark said Conservation Corps Minnesota was the stepping stone that allows him to do what he loves doing now. “I pinch myself every day. I do not think anyone could be as lucky as I have been, to spend their life in education AND conservation!”

Repurposing a Former Mining Site

Story and pictures taken from the Mile High Youth Corps Facebook page

In summer 2012, 11 members of Mile High Youth Corps’ “Marmot Team” embarked on a unique trail construction project that helped convert a former mining site into a public park.

The Spring Creek Park Project is located in the Town of Brookside south of Canon City. Sitting on more than 18 acres of land, it was home to a mining operation during the early 1900s. The first phase of the Spring Creek Park Project was completed in 2010 by the Division of Reclamation, Mining and Safety (DRMS), and was the launch of the town’s only public outdoor recreation area. That phase of the park development began with site cleanup and removal of dead trees, followed by parking lot construction, the development of handicap-accessible hiking trails, regrading of coal waste piles, revegetation of land and, thanks to funding from Great Outdoors Colorado, installation of a picnic shelter and park benches.

The final phase was the construction of trails – including the most difficult trails, which is where MHYC entered the project. The Marmots worked closely with Town of Brookside staff and local citizens to create a trail that conforms to the natural environment and provides a challenging way to enjoy the beauty of the park. This included the use of more than four tons of sandstone slabs for use as steps and retaining walls. In especially steep areas, the Marmots hand-chiseled steps into the native rock face of the mountain. In the end, the difficult trail measured about one-quarter of a mile in length, with an elevation gain of more than 500 vertical feet.

Educating Children About the Importance of Water Conservation

Corps Members with Disney Characters

Taken from the Orange County Conservation Corps newsletter, Explore the Corps,
April 2013

The Orange County Conservation Corps (OCCC) helped educate the next generation of environmentally-minded Orange County citizens at the 2013 Children’s Water Education Festival at UC Irvine on March 27-28. The “largest of its kind in the United States,” the festival has educated more than 95,000 Orange County students over the course of its 17 years.

OCCC Corpsmembers manned recycling stations throughout the festival, teaching the kids what to recycle and compost. The OCCC also recycled the donations to the Cans and Bottles for Kids campaign. Classes brought in bags of recyclables to compete for a free Inside the Outdoors Project Zero Waste Traveling Scientist Program, given to the class with the highest number of cans and bottles.

This year, over 7,000 third through fifth-graders attended this free field trip, exploring over 60 booths and activities geared to teach them about water conservation and environmental preservation. From Disney’s Incredible World of Water Chemistry to environmental magic shows to the Litter Bug Relay, there was something exciting for everyone.

For more information and to get updates about next year’s festival, check out the Children’s Water Education Festival website.

Tangible Health Benefits of Community Gardening

The farm operated by SEEDS of Traverse City, Michigan

Information taken from UPI, United Press International

Many Corps – including Civic Works, NYRP, Conservation Corps North Bay, and Vermont Youth Conservation Corps – operate extensive community gardening and farming programs. These farms and gardens provide their communities with healthy food and are often used by Corps to help educate people about the food cycle and proper eating habits. It’s no secret that getting regular exercise and eating fresh, sustainably grown fruits and vegetables can be good for both people and the environment, but what are the specific health benefits of involvement in local food production processes?

A new study from the University of Utah finds that people who participate in community gardening have significantly better odds of not being overweight or obese than people who are not involved in community gardening.

The Key findings:

Female community gardeners had an average BMI 1.84 lower than their neighbors who didn’t garden (this equals an 11 pound weight difference for a 5’5” woman)
Male community gardeners had an average BMI 2.36 lower than their neighbors who didn’t garden (this equals a 16 pound weight difference for a 5’10” man)

Click here for more details

California Conservation Corps Visits State Capitol

CCC corpsmembers debate budget items in a legislative hearing room.

Last week about a hundred members of the California Conservation Corps and 14 local conservation corps programs filled the hallways of California’s Capitol building in Sacramento. The occasion was Government Education Day, and the second year that the CCC and local corps programs joined efforts for the annual day.

The corpsmembers had a busy agenda, visiting more than 80 percent of the legislative offices as well as the Governor’s office and Natural Resources Agency. The day was capped off with a budget exercise, with the corpsmembers holding forth in legislative hearing rooms in the seats normally reserved for members of the Senate and Assembly.

The CCC’s participants were the elected leaders of the Corpsmember Advisory Boards at their centers.

Corpsmembers from Conservation Corps North Bay meet Natural Resources Secretary John Laird.

AmeriCorps Members from Civic Works Visit White House, Meet President Obama

(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

On Friday of last week, 12 AmeriCorps members were invited to the White House to talk about National Service with President Obama and other senior officials. Among them were 2 Corpsmembers from Civic Works, Baltimore’s Service Corps. Leonard Chase (seen in the right corner) and Myeasha Taylor, we thank you for representing the Corps movement and National Service!

You can read more about their visit and the short biographies of all 12 AmeriCorps members who attended at serve.gov by clicking here.