Youth Conservation Corps Program
The below report on the 2024 Youth Conservation Corps Program (Wild Arizona) is by the Douglas Ranger District and is from October 28, 2024. (most pictures deleted)
Thank you to our partners at the Forest Service for helping to make this year’s YCC the best one yet. A big THANK YOU to the Chiricahua Regional Council for funding the Outdoor Equity Fund, which helped several youth from the San Carlos Apache Tribe attend the YCC.
Goal 1: Complete stewardship projects on National Forest land in each of six program areas: Range, Fire, Forestry, Heritage, Biology and Recreation. We worked with Forest Service program specialists throughout each project. Range projects included: taking down an old corral, clearing brush along fence line, identification of grass species, surveys of grass plots, digging a ditch for a new water pump system, trail and fence brushing and clearing in the Peloncillos. Forestry projects included learning how to ID plants, measure the height of trees, and think and act like a forester. Fire projects included: brush removal around the Cave Creek Canyon Visitor Center led by the woodland firefighters from the Douglas Ranger District.
Recreation projects included brush removal and corridor clearing along the Turtle Mountain Trail, Rucker Trail and around Cima cabin.
– brushing and log-out along 1.4 miles the Turtle Mountain Trail corridor, repairing the tread surface of .25 miles and building retaining walls and cairns
– installed bear-proof food boxes at a recently renovated campground.
– brushing/log-out 0.4 miles of Rucker Trail stretching from our campsite (mile 2.2) The crew improved a creek crossing, built five cairns, and worked on two washouts at spots closer to the trailhead. The crew built a retaining wall/ramp up a an eroding side drainage and in the other spot we constructed a 200 foot reroute.
– tread work and brushing around Cima Cabin
Biology projects included installation of multiple protective structured for sensitive plants throughout priority sites. Discussion and identification of different ecological conditions and habitat for sensitive species.
Heritage projects included Firewise vegetation management, clearing the corrals, mud work on the historic adobe at Half Moon Ranch. Invasive plants that were growing close to the foundation of Shaw House were removed including Tree of Heaven. The pump house at Shaw House was painted.
Youth Conservation Corps members say:
“I loved Fire so much I’m planning on applying to join Engine 612 next summer. They treated us like adults, gave us actual fulfilling work to do, answered all of our questions with passion, and gave us the most tools to search for a job in the Douglas district.”
“I loved working with all of the archaeologists, mainly because of how passionate they were about everything, ranging from the history of the land we were working on to just vague topics within the history that they’ve studied.”
“I’m the pickmatic fanatic. It provided a nice physical challenge and there was a fun learning curve too. It was something I really felt I wanted to improve in for the fact that it was hard as well as active. I liked having some real purpose for once.”
“My favorite was digging tread. I think it was so much fun, because I was being active and doing hard work, but also able to talk with my friends and joke around, but still staying focused and making a difference. I really liked treading on Turtle Mountain, because I could see everything around us, and it was so beautiful. I loved being able to hike the trail over and over again, and see the difference we had made as a team- recognizing a section of trail I had brushed, walking over a section of tread my friends and I had dug out. It was just really cool to see and appreciate the difference we had made, seeing that “Oh, I did that, and that’s super cool,” which is a really amazing feeling.”
“Fire brought many things to the table, teaching us things that we had not learned before, treating us like fellow workers and not like children, and showing us their passion for they job that they have been doing for a period of time.”
“Joe was really cool so I liked Range.”
Goal 2: Engage in robust outreach and recruitment efforts to ensure a diverse, successful and well-rounded crew. We started outreach far earlier this year than previously, in March, and received outside funding to increase outreach to underserved areas of the state including the San Carlos Apache Reservation. It paid off. We had 65 applicants and a far more diverse and qualified pool than previously. Ten youth were hired ages 15-17, with four female and six male crew members. Part of the goal of the program is to mix local, regional and national youth. We attempted to hire the best and most motivated crew members. With a large pool of diverse applicants, it was easy to reflect diversity in the final choices. Six crew members live in Arizona. Of these, two are local (Sierra Vista, Bisbee), four are regional, and four live outside the state, from Georgia, Alaska, Louisiana, and New Mexico. For the first time all 10 youth that started the program were able to finish it. We believe this was in part due to great recruitment. With so many youth applications, we were able to hire only youth who were really motivated and capable of being in full attendance.
Goal 3. Help youth gain the skills to live and work in the outdoors. All ten crew members have learned how to travel, camp, work and live in the backcountry. They have learned hands on conservation skills such as basic techniques for the cross-cut saw, efficient pruning of vegetation overgrowth, properly tuning up the trail surface or “tread,”and many other applications of firewise techniques and techniques for the study of ecosystem function. Along the way we have repeatedly reinforced safety and risk management int eh outdoors. Crew members have also learned important conflict resolution tools and gained practice using them.
Goal 4: Inspire youth to live a life outdoors as stewards of public lands.
“When I came into YCC, I had a vague plan for my life, but now I can’t really see myself living a life like I had previously imagined. I think I care much less about anything that doesn’t truly make me happy. I remember talking to other crew members about this, because a few of us realized that we were so much happier living a life like we do here than our lives back from before. We saw that we were so much happier living a life like this.
Now, I view everything differently. I feel like I’m much less superficial or focused on doing things that don’t make me happy. I also feel like I’ve become more caring and open by being around so many people that I really love. I can’t imagine myself living a life that doesn’t truly make me feel like I’m making a difference, and being fulfilled. I think this is the healthiest I’ve ever been in my life, both physically and mentally. This has been such a
healing experience for me, and I’m so grateful I’ve had this opportunity. I loved every second of it. I think the two main things that I loved the most were the bonds I’ve formed with people, and the amount of time I was able to spend outside. These people have become some of my closest friends, and I’m so glad to have met them. Reading with them, talking with them, going on walks, having deep conversations and always feeling loved and accepted was so valuable to me. Being surrounded by nature the entire time, and looking outside and just seeing miles and miles of pure and untouched beauty made me so much happier than I can describe.”
– Sabine
There’s so much about it that I began to enjoy and grow to love. Honestly, I really struggled getting introduce to trail work since I really don’t do many athletic things or spend much time outdoors, but as the weeks went along I began to really understand why Sage loved trail work as much as they did. It really leaves you feeling accomplished, and feeling awesome sauce after a long day of working. You could be complaining all day, then find yourself feeling appreciative of your own work as you re-walk the previously rocky, turned smooth, trail as you descend down the mountain. Not only that, but the hard work on your body throughout the day also leaves you feeling AMAZING by the end of the day.
– Erin
I’m thinking about doing something in the outdoors now, and my health habits are 100 times better.
– Annabelle
Now, I want to be a wildland firefighter and I’m gonna do my best to make that happen next summer. My plans
kind of flipped entirely, but I’m very grateful they did. Without this program I would’ve been stuck working towards a job I would’ve hated. I am forever in debt to the YCC.
– Graeme
Well I want to go into trail work now, so that’s changed a heck of a lot. I’ve got myself a real goal for the future
which gives me a drive to put in the work in many areas of life. I’ve never had a full life goal like this for the future so that’s a nice feeling. It’s always been personal things like improving social skills and whatnot. I’ll still continue on personal things like that, but when your goals only exist in that personal field who you are becomes your entire life. You become wrapped up in your identity above all else and let’s say how funny you are or things like that become your entire life. You become vapid and this helps give me an opportunity to move away from such things and orient my goals around experience.
– Beck