A New Spin on Conservation Corps

Workforce Wednesdays
Find out more about the briefings in this series below:
Sept 2	Preparing High Schoolers for Green Careers
Sept 9	A New Spin on Conservation Corps
Sept 16	Energy Transitions in Coal Country
Sept 23	Growing Green Industry and Innovation: Mass Timber
Sept 30	Low-Carbon Small Business and Post-COVID Recovery
Overview of the Workforce Wednesdays series

Several different conservation corps currently offer opportunities to get Americans involved in shovel-ready projects on federal lands, providing participants with work experience, skills, and a paycheck while contributing to national climate and sustainability goals. Speakers discussed a variety of conservation corps and the policies that help them thrive.

Chas Robles, Director of Conservation Legacy’s Ancestral Lands program, described its wildland restoration work, and the program’s design to expand access to Native youth. Michael French, Director of Operations at Green Forests Work, discussed how its programs rely on local contractors and community members to restore native forest cover on lands that were disturbed by mining. Tonya Gayle, Chief Development Officer and Josh Owens, Social Enterprise Project Manager of Green City Force, discussed how corps programs are providing work opportunities and improving environmental outcomes in urban areas.

 

Supplemental EESI materials:

• In Conversation with Bruce Saito, Executive Director of the Oldest and Largest Conservation Corps

 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

Chas Robles, Director of Ancestral Lands Program, Conservation Legacy

• Conservation Legacy was created in 1998 and known originally as the Southwest Youth Corps. Conservation Legacy runs both crew-based and individual placement programs across the country.
• The Ancestral Lands program was created in 2008 to address barriers Native youth faced participating in and successful completing conservation corps programs. The central idea of the program is to bring the conservation corps movement to Native communities and Native youth where they are.
• Ancestral Lands works with several pueblos and tribes, including Acoma Pueblo, Navajo Nation, Zuni Pueblo, and Hopi Pueblo. It also serves urban Native youth in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and surrounding Pueblos.
• Ancestral Lands is a fairly conventional conservation corps program, utilizing teams of five to ten crew members working in the field for ten to twelve days at a time on conservation projects.
• Projects include trail construction, habitat restoration, invasive species removal, and historical preservation (largely on ancestral Puebloan sites).
• Ancestral Lands strives to incorporate cultural components into its programs whenever possible. One way this is accomplished is through the traditional farm corps, which allows young folks to reconnect with their heritage through traditional agricultural practices. It also addresses food sovereignty by donating food to the local communities.
• Corps members can also participate in hiking club programs, where they not only learn how to recreate responsibly, but also learn about the cultural significance of the lands through intergenerational educational experiences with elders.
• Ancestral Lands focuses on preparing youths for success in their careers. Through various training and certification programs, corps members are prepared to immediately move on to their next step, whether that be post-secondary education or a job. Programs include:
  • High School Equivalency Diploma (GED) – A new program being piloted this year allows corps members to earn GEDs. Members spend four days of the week participating in conservation projects, and one day taking GED courses with direct mentorship. The program works in partnership with La Plazita Institute.
  • Professional development – Courses include financial literacy, resume building, and USAJobs workshops [USAJobs is a federal website listing civil service job opportunities].
  • Ecology Restoration Certification Program – This six-month, field-based program, planned for next year, allows participants to complete ecological restoration projects, earn relevant certifications (herbicide applicator, chainsaw operator, etc.), and receive nine college credits. The program is partnering with Coconino Community College, Eco-Culture, the National Forest Foundation, and the U.S. Forest Service.
• A number of federal and state policies and programs support Ancestral Lands' work, including the Public Lands Coalition, the cost-share waiver initiated in the fiscal year 2021 interior appropriations bill, the Great American Outdoors Act, and the Indian Youth Service Corps.
• The Indian Youth Service Corps, part of the 21^st Conservation Service Corps Act, is working to expanding corps opportunities to native communities and native youth.

 

Michael French, Director of Operations at Green Forests Work

• Green Forests Work is a nonprofit organization that restores healthy, productive native forests to lands that have been disturbed by surface mining across the Appalachian region. The program not only improves the environment, but also creates economic and employment opportunities.
• The Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act (SMCRA) of 1977 standardized mining reclamation practices, gave oversight to state agencies, and addressed the problems of human health and safety.
• SMCRA required mining companies to declare a post-mining land use and put up a monetary bond before mining commenced to ensure restoration would take place.
• This law produced adverse outcome, because, to reduce erosion and landslides, mining companies heavily compacted soils. Heavily compacted soils inhibit tree root growth, gas exchange, and water infiltration, resulting in high seedling mortality. As a result, mining companies shifted towards widespread grassland restoration instead of reforestation.
• From 1980 to the mid-2000s, 750,000 to 1,000,000 acres of forest were converted to other land uses. Unmanaged grasslands often became colonized by invasive, exotic species.
• The Appalachian Regional Reforestation Initiative (ARRI), created by the federal government, aims to increase planting of native hardwood trees, improve seedling survival, and expedite reforestation on surface mined lands. Green Forests Work was created as an offshoot of ARRI.
• Green Forests Work’s modified Forestry Reclamation Approach is:
  1. Clear unwanted vegetation through mechanical and chemical means
  2. Mitigate soil compaction using ripping shanks, similar to tilling a garden
  3. Plant trees with the help of contractors and volunteers
• The organization is focused on improving two aspects of Appalachia:
  • Environmental infrastructure: native forests provide critical ecosystem services and processes, including improved air and water quality, climate mitigation through carbon accumulation, and reduced forest fragmentation.
  • Job creation and economic growth: planting forests creates local jobs (seed collectors, equipment operators, nurseries, etc.) and restores a forest-based economy.
• Between 2009 and 2020, Green Forests Work completed over 390 projects/events in 10 states, relied on more than 17,000 volunteers, reforested 4,985 acres, and planted 3,139,647 trees.
• Green Forests Work collaborates with Conservation Legacy and the Appalachian Conservation Corps to implement several of their projects.
• Restoring the forest economy is critically important for the Appalachian region.
  • In Kentucky alone, the timber industry directly contributes $9.1 billion to the economy.
  • As the decline of the Appalachian coal industry continues, forestry will help to create additional employment opportunities and incentives for people to stay in the region.
  • The Appalachian region has historically had higher unemployment, higher poverty, and greater income inequality rates than the country average.

 

Tonya Gayle, Chief Development Officer at Green City Force

Josh Owens, Social Enterprise Project Manager at Green City Force

• Green City Force (GCF) is a nonprofit based in New York City, which focuses on bringing youth from public housing into the green economy through service. It works to build up black and brown leadership, giving its corps members the skills to become competitive applicants in their fields.
• GCF works predominantly on projects within the public housing sector, run by the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA). Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 72 percent of individuals between the ages of 18-24 in NYCHA housing were unemployed and had no viable platform for next steps.
• Green City Force’s work addresses both unemployment and climate action. Projects focus on reducing carbon footprints through energy efficiency, education, and sustainability initiatives.
• To participate in the service corps, individuals must be between the ages of 18 and 24, be residents of NYC public housing, and have a high school diploma or GED. Their service experience is designed to lead directly into employment opportunities or college enrollment.
• GCF has a wraparound support system for participants both in service and beyond. This includes financial and social services, full-time social workers, and career coaches.
• GCF’s proven approach serves as a model for what a green economy can look like. Over the past 10 years, GCF has had an 80 percent graduation rate, with more than 500 graduates, and an 80 percent job placement rate.
• Members are recruited from NYCHA in cohorts. Together, they go through orientation, learning, and skill building, before being deployed in their communities to implement various projects.
• GCF’s two iconic projects are Farms at NYCHA and Love Where You Live.
  • Farms at NYCHA includes six urban farms that have provided over 100,000 pounds of organic produce to residents.
  • Love Where You Live relies on the “credible messenger idea,” using young people from the neighborhoods to deliver sustainability messages.
• GCF’s next iteration will include Eco Hubs, a reframing of GCF's farms to move towards a sustainable, closed-loop model. The model will serve as a demonstration project that is scalable and replicable across other cities and communities.
• GCF Social Enterprise creates a pipeline for returning alumni to come and work with current GCF participants. It has two dominant projects:
  • Empower New York, a program that provides home energy audits to pre-qualified individuals
  • Energy Performance Contracts (EPC), which are used to retrofit NYCHA units and educate residents on sustainable changes they can incorporate into their lives. It is the largest retrofitting project in the country
• GCF’s service corps receives one third of its support from AmeriCorps, one third from city and state resources, and one third from private investments. Their alumni and social enterprise initiatives are funded by fees for services.
• Urban conservation corps bring young people into leadership roles. As we confront environmental, racial, and economic injustice, they are one solution.

 

Q&A

 

Do you work with high schools and if so, how does that work?

• Michael French (Green Forests Work): We work with a lot of high schools from local communities. We teach them about the history of their area and reforestation. We teach them how to plants trees and how they can benefit from them. We started with an environmental and economic focus, but then realized that education was also very important. We now strive to include student groups when we can.
• Tonya Gayle (Green City Force): GCF does not work with high schools in a traditional way. Members must already have a high school degree or GED to participate in GCF. Members are recruited through NYCHA and a partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, so while it is not specific to high schools, there is some overlap within that group.

 

How can you scale this work? What kind of federal or local support would you need to expand your operations?

• Michael French: We need increased awareness at the highest levels of government. There is some funding available for reforestation (through the Farm Bill, RECLAIM Act, etc.), but it is just not enough. Scaling it up is just a matter of funding, whether that is through private or federal investment.
• Tonya Gayle: At the federal level, conservation corps need a dedicated line of commitment. We must also be mindful and expand opportunities in ways that benefit the broad range of people afflicted by unemployment, whether that be through increasing stipends, providing funds for wraparound support, or creating budget lines that are specific to these populations at the state level. Further, we need consistent, sustained, multi-year investment.

 

Where do your programs get funding?

• Michael French: Our funding sources are fairly well-balanced: one third from government contracts and grants, one third from foundation support, through partnerships, and one third from general donations from individuals. It is a mix of public, private and foundation support.
• Joshua Owens (Green City Force): We receive fees for service from our two primary projects, Empower New York and the Energy Performance Contract.
• Tonya Gayle: We would love to increase our contract work, either through government contracts that are fee for service and can provide support for our service corps, or through private contracts that can provide support for graduates within social enterprise programs. We are looking to tie city investments into direct support of these corps.

 

What are your views on efforts to establish a government funded or operated conservation corps?

• Tonya Gayle: There are currently examples and models of what that is. This work is ongoing and the need for these corps to be at the table is really critical. Tapping into what currently exists is the best, most efficient and proactive way to scale this work.
• Michael French: I will second that. Why reinvent the wheel? It is really a matter of scaling what is already being done on the ground.

 

How do you go about estimating the impacts you have on your communities?

• Michael French: Sometimes our work is tied into research. We track a lot of data for all of our projects—dollars invested, trees planted, survival rate over time, volunteer hours, volunteer age, number of jobs created… things of that nature. We are currently working on a way to model carbon accumulation and a proposal to look at benefits for at-risk species.
• Josh Owens: For Social Enterprise, data is extremely important, we track generated revenue. For our Energy Performance Contract work, we have a data team on site that tracks the work done in each unit.
• Tonya Gayle: Data collection is part of the training experience in the service program as well. We track metrics related to our projects, such as food produced and residents engaged. We also track data related to our participants, such as graduation rates and employment salary/wages.

 

Highlights compiled by Emma Walker

 

The Environmental and Energy Study Institute (EESI) held a series of online briefings on workforce development and policies and programs that can support a low-carbon recovery from the COVID-19 economic crisis. Speakers discussed major challenges faced in each area and solutions providing economic and environmental benefits to communities across the country.