USDA Newsletter Story Highlights How Deaf Montana Conservation Corps Member became Forest Service Employee

In the USDA’s April newsletter, the agency highlighted Joanel Lopez’s participation in the Bridging Cultures Conservation Corps program that was launched by Montana Conservation Corps and Region 1 of the U.S. Forest Service.

It’s a fantastic example of how “the program is great for people from diverse backgrounds and cultures to face dealing with different perspectives.” The digital version of the story can be read on page 3 of the linked PDF.

  

 

National Trust for Historic Preservation Awards the Texas Conservation Corps a Preservation Grant for Work at LBJ’s Grandparent’s Cabin

Press Release Issued by Texas Conservation Corps and the National Trust for Historic Preservation

Johnson City, Texas (Wednesday, March 14, 2014)—Today, the Texas Conservation Corps was awarded a $ 5,000 grant by the  National Trust for Historic Preservation for a Hands-On-Preservation-Experience (HOPE) Crew project.  These grant funds will be used immediately to make repairs on a cabin at Lyndon B Johnson National Historical Park originally inhabited by LBJ’s grandparents, Sam and Eliza Johnson, in the 1860’s.

This HOPE Crew project, overseen by craft  experts  from the  National Park  Service’s Western Center for Historic Preservation, is taking place this week in Johnson City, Texas. The project will result in critical repairs to the cabin while also transferring these unique historic preservation skills to the workforce of the next generation.  AmeriCorps members from the Texas Conservation Corps are hewing new wooden porch beams and making other repairs using tools that would have been used in the original construction in the 1860’s.  The Texas Conservation Corps is a program of American YouthWorks in Austin, Texas   that  places  teams  of  youth  and  young  adults  on  experiential  conservation, preservation and disaster response projects across the region.

“Programs like the Texas Conservation Corps help to ensure that communities and towns all across America retain their unique sense of place,” said Stephanie Meeks, president of the National Trust for Historic Preservation. “We are honored to provide a grant to the program which will use the funds to help preserve an important piece of our shared national heritage.”

Grants from the National Trust Preservation Funds range from $2,500 to $5,000 and have provided over $15 million in preservation support since 2003. These matching grants are awarded to nonprofit organizations and public agencies across the country to support wide-ranging activities including consultant services for rehabilitating buildings, technical assistance for tourism that promotes historic resources, and the development of materials for education and outreach campaigns.

For more information on National Trust for Historic Preservation’s

Preservation Fund grants, visit:  www.PreservationNation.org/funding

About American YouthWorks

American YouthWorks is an education and jobs training nonprofit based in Austin, Texas.   The agency has been serving the community since 1981 and offers a diverse set of programs for young people, ages 16 to 28, who want to change their lives through education, workforce training, and service to their country. For more information see www.americanyouthworks.org.

About the National Trust for Historic Preservation

The National Trust for Historic Preservation is a privately-funded nonprofit organization that works to save America’s historic places to enrich our future. The National Trust for Historic Preservation is committed  to protecting  America’s  rich  cultural  legacy  and  helping  build  vibrant,  sustainable communities that reflect our nation’s diversity. Follow us on Twitter  @presnation.

The National Trust for Historic Preservation, a privately funded nonprofit organization, works to save America’s historic places.

Earth Conservation Corps founding Board Member honored

On Wednesday, May 21, Mary Ellen Sprenkel, President and CEO, and other TCN staff joined Earth Conservation Corps staff, current and alumni Corpsmembers, city and national officials at a dedication ceremony for a bridge named in honor of Ethel Kennedy, founding Board Member of Earth Conservation Corps (ECC).

Speakers included DC Mayor Gray, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Senator Steny Hoyer.  For over 22 years, Mrs. Kennedy’s engagement with ECC has helped others appreciate the can-do spirit of Anacostia youth and focused an entire city on the restoration of the River. Corpsmembers presented Mrs. Kennedy with white roses along with their stories of transformation and growth through their experience with the Corps. Attorney General Eric Holder’s speech can be read online here.

Before the presentation, ECC members demonstrated for the media how they are cleaning up the Anacostia River.

The Corps Network Thanks President Obama for Designation of Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument

Photo of Organ Mountains via White House’s Instagram Account

On Wednesday, President Obama announced that he would use his authority under the Antiquities Act to designate a 500,000 acre area of New Mexico known as the Organ Mountains and Desert Peaks as a National Monument. Jeri Clausing of the Associated Press writes that, “New Mexico Sens. Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich, both Democrats, had proposed legislation to protect the region that includes popular hunting areas and features steep rock outcroppings, petroglyphs, ancient lava flows and sites such as Billy the Kid’s Outlaw Rock, Geromino’s Cave and the Butterfield Stagecoach Trail.”

The Corps Network and twenty four of its member organizations have issued a thank you letter to President Obama and also to Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell. A PDF of the letter can be accessed by clicking here, and the full text is published below. 

Full Text of The Corps Network’s Letter to President Obama:

May 21, 2014

The President
1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW
Washington, DC 20500

 

Dear Mr. President:

On behalf of Service and Conservation Corps across the country, we write to thank you for your recent action to protect the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks as a national monument.

Although the nation’s 100+ Service and Conservation Corps are diverse in mission and membership, we all strive to improve quality of life for our participants and in our communities.  From building trails and campgrounds on our nation’s iconic public lands, to creating and caring for urban parks and gardens, to improving the energy efficiency of low-income housing, to helping communities prepare for and recover from disasters, Corps provide communities with valuable services and participants with the job training, academic programming, leadership skills and more, to improve lives and the environment.

It is this dedication to the betterment of future generations that leads us to strongly support your recent action to create the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument.  Protecting these pristine public lands will help to secure recreational opportunities for local communities and encourage more Americans to spend time in the great outdoors.  This will help boost local economies, support public health, and inspire future generations to embody the conservation ethic we all hold dear.

We also want to thank and recognize Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewell for her tireless leadership on behalf of Service and Conservation Corps.  Her support of the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps has been extraordinary, and her recognition of the importance that land conservation policies play in furthering the missions of Conservation Corps everywhere is integral to our future success.

Thank you again for acting to protect the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks, and we look forward to seeing other special landscapes protected in the future.

Sincerely,

Mary Ellen Sprenkel, President and CEO
The Corps Network
And the undersigned Corps

 

Rocky Mountain Youth Corps

Taos, New Mexico

 

YouthWorks Santa Fe

Santa Fe, New Mexico

Conservation Legacy

Durango, Colorado

 

Environmental Stewards

Durango, Colorado

Southwest Conservation Corps

Salida and Durango, CO and Acoma Pueblo, NM

 

Western Colorado Conservation Corps

Grand Junction, CO

Arizona Conservation Corps

Tucson and Flagstaff, AZ

 

Great Basin Institute / Nevada Conservation Corps

Reno, NV

 

Fresno Economic Opportunities Commission, Fresno Local Conservation Corps

Fresno, CA

 

San Francisco Conservation Corps

San Francisco, CA

 

Sequoia Community Corps

Visalia, CA

 

Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa

St. Paul, MN

 

WisCorps

LaCrosse, WI

 

American Youthworks

Austin, TX

Vermont Youth Conservation Corps

Richmond, VT

 

The Work Group

Pennsauken, NJ

 

Citizens Conservation Corps of West Virginia

Beckley, WV

 

Southeast Youth Corps

Chattanooga, TN

 

Limitless Vistas, Inc.

Orlando, FL

 

Greater Miami Service Corps

Miami, FL

Kupu

Honolulu, HI

SAGA

Juneau, AK

 

Los Angeles Conservation Corps

Los Angeles, CA

 

Northwest Piedmont Service Corps

Winston-Salem, NC

 

CCC Crews Dispatched to Southern California Fires

A CCC fire crew on the Miguelito Fire in Santa Barbara County.  Photo by CCC crew supervisor Jeremy Day.

Story provided by the California Conservation Corps.

A dozen crews from the California Conservation Corps  — 170 corpsmembers — are helping to combat the wildfires in San Diego and Santa Barbara counties.

CCC crews from Los Angeles, Pomona, San Diego and San Bernardino are assisting with logistical support at fire camps in San Diego County.  Crews are working for both Cal Fire and the U.S. Forest Service; they are assigned to the Bernardo and Tomahawk fires among other locations.

In Santa Barbara County, Camarillo and San Luis Obispo corpsmembers are helping with both initial attack efforts and camp support on the Miguelito Fire.

Additional CCC crews stand ready to assist where needed.

EarthCorps Selected for 300 Year Long Habitat Restoration Stewardship Project in Washington

From EarthCorps

EarthCorps was selected by the Commencement Bay Trustees to be the stewards of a cutting edge restoration fund to provide long-term maintenance, monitoring and community engagement at 17 restoration sites in and around Tacoma’s Commencement Bay for 300 years.

This collaborative partnership is seen as a model for the rest of the country to look to for long-term environmental stewardship. Trustees represent NOAA, US Fish and Wildlife Service, US Dept. of Interior, The Puyallup Tribe of Indians, the Muckleshoot Indian Tribe, and WA Dept. of Ecology. 

The restoration sites are part of an EPA cleanup and subsequent habitat restoration. In order for EarthCorps to conduct the work, we are EarthCorps has been entrusted with $4.9 million dollars to invest for the sole purpose of providing the annual funds required to ensure the long-term stewardship of these sites.

Read more on NOAA’s website. 

Southwest Conservation Corps Announcing Big Changes this Earth Day

From Southwest Conservation Corps President & CEO Harry Bruell

Dear Friends, Colleagues, and Partners,

In celebration of Earth Day we are excited to make an official announcement about our organizational re-structure to better align the organization with its unprecedented growth over the past 15 years.

The new name of our overall non-profit agency is now Conservation Legacy, a national organization that supports local and regional conservation service programs from seven offices across America.  Southwest Conservation Corps remains the name for the Conservation Legacy program that operates conservation corps in Colorado and New Mexico from offices in Durango and Salida, CO and Pueblo of Acoma, NM.  Other Conservation Legacy programs include the Arizona Conservation Corps (conservation corps in Arizona and Southern New Mexico; based in Flagstaff and Tucson, AZ), Environmental Stewards(individual placements in 22 states; based in Durango, CO), Southeast Youth Corps (conservation corps across the Southeast; based in Chattanooga, TN), andVISTA Teams (individual placements in the Appalachians and Colorado/New Mexico; based in Beckley, WV).  Please see the attached document for more information about the new structure.

The new structure allows Conservation Legacy to better support its programs with shared resources while allowing each program to develop its own identity and to customize programming to the needs and assets of the communities it serves.   We couldn’t imagine a more fitting day than Earth Day to announce the next phase of the organization’s development.  Our mission is to empower individuals to positively impact their lives, their communities and the environment, and we hope this next phase of our organizational development will allow us to support more young people, veterans and communities to make everyday Earth Day.

Conservation Legacy began in Durango, CO in 1998 as Southwest Youth Corps and changed its name to Southwest Conservation Corps in 2006 after merging with the Youth Corps of Southern Arizona.  In 2013 the organization engaged 709 young people, veterans and crew leaders who completed over 350,000 hours of service maintaining recreational trails and open space, protecting communities from wildfire, and preserving wildlife habitat.

The new structure will allow Conservation Legacy to support emerging corps programs and to help lead and promote national initiatives such as the growing movement to engage more young Americans in conservation service through the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps (21CSC).  Conservation Legacy is a co-founder of the Public Lands Service Coalition and Conservation Legacy staff and Board members served on the 21CSC Federal Advisory Committee (Chair) and the Partnership for the 21CSC (co-Chair).       

Thank you for your support of Conservation Legacy, its programs and, most importantly, the young people, veterans and communities the organization serves.  Please refer to our new website for further information, please connect with us on our new Facebook page, and please feel free to contact me atharry@sccorps.org or 970-403-0143 with questions, suggestions or ideas.

Thanks for all that you do to support conservation service corps,

Harry Bruell

President & CEO

 

Former Utah Conservation Corps AmeriCorps Member Honored as White House Champion of Change for Her Promotion of Solar Power

 

Today – Thursday, April 24, 2014 – the White House recognized Kate Bowman, a former 

Utah Conservation Corps AmeriCorps member, as a “Champion of Change.” Bowman was one of 10 people honoroed for their efforts to promote and expand solar deployment in the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors. Bowman served two AmeriCorps positions with the Utah Conservation Corps as an individual placement at Utah Clean Energy. She served a 900 hour position in 2012 and a 1700 hour position 2013. Bowman completed outreach projects for the Community Solar Project. Her efforts expanded the program in Park City/Summit County to empower local communities to band together and negotiate bulk-pricing on solar rooftop installations.  

Congratulations, Kate! 

Read more about Kate:

Read about other Corpsmembers/former Corpsmembers who were recently honored as White House Champions of Change

Secretary Sally Jewell Visits Northwest Youth Corps as Part of National Park Week

Last weekend, in recognition of National Park Week, Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell visited Crater Lake National Park in Oregon. She also met with Corpsmembers and staff from Northwest Youth Corps. Read about it here.

Written by Amelia Templeton
OPB – Oregon Public Broadcast

Secretary of Interior Jewell Sees Signs of Drought at Crater Lake

Secretary of Interior Sally Jewell visited Crater Lake National Park this weekend, celebrating National Park Week.

Jewell went snowshoeing at the crater rim with students from the Network Charter School in Eugene. Jewell said she was impressed at how passionate the Eugene students were about conservation.

“They were terrific. I mean really poetic. Not just talking about National Parks, but talking about our lands, and how we use our lands and need to be more thoughtful about things we extract as opposed to conservation,” she said.

Jewell also met with a Northwest Youth Corps work crew. She said she was struck by the signs of climate change and drought she saw in the park. Read more

Earth Day 2014


EarthCorps Corpsmembers “spread some Earth Month love” with students.

A Roundup of Earth Day News

Wendy Spencer, CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service, writes about green service opportunities in an op-ed for the Huffington Post. In the very first paragraph she mentions none other than Mike Bremer, a 2012 Corpsmember of the Year.

Like many transitioning service members, Mike Bremer was having a tough time finding work after he came home. Then he joined AmeriCorps, serving on the all veterans fire team with the Southwest Conservation Corps. With the skills he learned, Mike was able to secure a job with the U.S. Forest Service as a full-time firefighter. Read more

Watch an Earth Day video chat with Mike Connor, recently confirmed Deputy Secretary of the Interior (P.S. tune in at 2:35 to hear a question submitted by Harry Bruell, CEO and President of Conservation Legacy, and jump to 28:35 to hear a question from Levi Novey, Director of Communications and Marketing at The Corps Network).

A few highlights of Corps Earth Day projects…


EarthCorps
The entire month of April is Earth Month for EarthCorps. In total, they will host 22 events and mobilize more than 1,800 community volunteers in habitat restoration in community parks and green spaces.  Events will take place in the cities of Seattle, Everett, Mercer Island, Federal Way, and Tacoma. Activities mostly include invasive species removal. 

 


Kupu – Hawaii Youth Conservation Corps
On April 19th, volunteers with Kupu removed marine debris from Oahu’s dirtiest beach. Kahuku Beach has more plastic than any other shoreline on Oahu.

 


New York Restoration Project – NYRP
New York Restoration Project planted trees in Astoria park on April 22nd.


American YouthWorks – Texas Conservation Corps
In the days leading up to Earth Day, a Corps Network-AmeriCorps crew from the Texas Conservation Corps teamed up with a neighborhood group and Boy Scout troop to install a new trail through a native prairie landscape in a historic central city park and museum in Austin, Texas.  The new 300 foot accessible trail at the Ney Museum was built by the Corpsmembers using native materials, including a natural plant-based stabilizer that created a more accessible and erosion resistant trail.  The trail will be quickly put to use to interpret the natural history of Central Texas to the thousands of school children and other visitors who tour the historic site each year.

 


Western Colorado Conservation Corps – WCCC
On April 11th, Western Colorado Conservation Corps generated 87 volunteer hours doing rockwork on the Tabeguache Trails System. Putting in place large rocks to deter mountain bikers, the volunteers created a connector trail specifically for hikers. This is one of the first trails of its kind in the area. In total, the crew constructed 200 feet of new trail, 2 retaining walls, 2 staircases and 1 armored section of trail.

“It’s awesome that we were able to move two ton rocks and disguise it like nothing happened,” said Chi Yun Takaki, an Assistant Crew Leader.

 


Youth Conservation Corps – YCC
Youth Conservation Corps spent the day “greening” their location in Waukegan, IL.  They built raised beds, filled them with soil and compost, and then planted them with flowers and vegetables. They also planted native prairie grasses around the building, along with bushes and other plants.