The Forest Corps is a new collaboration between AmeriCorps and the U.S. Forest Service that will see dozens of young people fan out across the West to carry out a number of projects.
This week, 87 newly inducted members of the Forest Corps started heading toward project sites in California, Oregon, Idaho and Utah. The $15 million, five-year interagency agreement will help the Forest Service with the goals laid out in its Wildfire Crisis and Reforestation strategies, according to Ken Goodson, director of Americorps’ National Civilian Community Corps (NCCC).
He said that not only will corps members help the Forest Service carry out its strategies, but at the end of their service term, the agency “would have a cadre of qualified young adults with hands-on skills, certifications and experience working on our public lands that they could in turn look to as future employees.”
Goodson said the extra help is especially welcome during the summer months, when much of the Forest Service workforce has its hands full with wildfire, making it difficult to staff the fuels reduction and prescribed fire projects corps members will assist with.
“You can end up in this cycle where, if you're constantly fighting the fire that's in front of you, the work that you need to do to mitigate future fires gets put, unfortunately, on the back burner,” Goodson said.
Corps members will do a range of other work, like tree planting and monitoring tree survival in reforestation projects, according to the NCCC director.
Anyone interested in the program can go to americorps.gov/forestcorps to learn more. Goodson said service terms are 10 to 11 months long and, while the first cohort is already out in the field, applications to be a part of the next one are always open.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
