Conservation Corps North Bay Partners for the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps

The 21CSC will accomplish critical restoration work while providing training opportunities and work experience to youth and veterans in California.

The Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior (DOI) announced that Conservation Corps North Bay is one of 91 initial organizations nationwide that have been approved as member organizations to help implement the Obama Administration’s 21st Century Conservation Service Corps (21CSC). The 21CSC is a national collaborative effort to put America’s youth and veterans to work protecting, restoring, and enhancing America’s natural and cultural resources.

“Conservation Corps North Bay is very excited to be part of the 21st CSC, says Conservation Corps North Bay CEO Marilee Eckert. “We have been doing this work for over thirty years but this takes it to the next level.”

Conservation Corps North Bay has been developing youth and conserving natural resources in the North Bay for over 30 years including a strong partnership with federal agencies including the National Park Service, US Forest Service and Department of Labor among others.  The 21CSC membership will enhance Conservation Corps North Bay’s ability to provide quality services to these federal partners.  Each year,  Conservation Corps North Bay crews clear trails and reduce flammable fuels in Point Reyes National Seashore, construct staircases, bridges and fences in Golden Gate National Recreation Area and Muir Woods, maintain trails in remote Wilderness Areas for the Mendocino National Forest and run Summer Youth Ecology Corps Programs for various Workforce Investment Boards throughout North Bay. 

The 21CSC engages young Americans aged 15-25, and veterans up to age 35. Through the 21CSC, young people and veterans will accomplish meaningful work, gaining important personal and professional skills and builds a lifelong connection to the outdoors.

All 21CSC participants gain skills, and deliver results that include enhancing recreational opportunities and access, protecting wildlife, restoring impaired watersheds, removing invasive species, increasing energy efficiency, preserving historic or cultural sites, enhancing community spaces, coordinating volunteers, supporting monitoring or data needs, responding to natural disasters, reducing hazardous fuels and protecting communities from wildfire.

Increasing diversity and expanding opportunities for all youth and veterans are core 21CSC principles: all 21CSC member organizations emphasize diversity and inclusion, and the 21CSC National Council will focus in the coming months on recruiting additional member organizations, targeting new programs in diverse areas, and investing in training and career pathways for a diverse group of participants.

The 21CSC is supported by the federal 21CSC National Council, which includes members from USDA, DOI, the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS), the Army Corps of Engineers, NOAA, the Department of Labor, the Environmental Protection Agency, and the Council on Environmental Quality, and by the Partnership for the 21CSC, which was launched in June of 2013 as a collaborative group to support the 21CSC.

For the Federal Register notice inviting letters of interest and outlining the eight principles, visithttp://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2013-07-01/html/2013-15644.htm

For more information, visit the partner-hosted website www.21csc.org or www.conservationcorpsnorthbay.org.