Federal cuts cripple local workforce training program

||| FROM PAUL ANDERSSON for SAN JUAN ISLANDS CONSERVATION DISTRICT |||

Federal funding cuts to the AmeriCorps program had an immediate impact on nearly twenty local community members serving on the Islands Conservation Corps (ICC), a highly regarded workforce training program run by the San Juan Islands Conservation District.

Program participants were ordered by email to stop work immediately on Monday, April 28, finding themselves suddenly unemployed while arriving to work and facing uncertainty about their ability to continue their path toward earning certificate and master’s degrees in environmental studies through Western Washington University.

According to a statement from the Washington State Office of the Attorney General on April 29, “Washington state Attorney General Nick Brown joined a multistate lawsuit challenging an illegal executive order that terminated AmeriCorps grants and reduced the agency’s workforce by 85 percent. The order effectively ended the program that provides opportunities to more than 200,000 Americans to serve their communities. The coalition includes 23 attorneys general and the states of Kentucky and Pennsylvania.”

Paul Andersson, Executive Director of the San Juan Islands Conservation District, which has developed and hosted the ICC program since 2020 stated, “ICC has worked tirelessly and succeeded in delivering positive results throughout San Juan County. The program is an invaluable asset providing educational and economic opportunities on top of large-scale ecosystem restoration. ICC is a fine-tuned, multi-agency effort that brings together some of the best federal, state, local, tribal, non-profit, and private industry minds to improve ecosystems and train the next generation of leaders right here in the San Juan Islands. It is an amazing resource in and of itself.”

ICC was built from scratch out of the ashes of Covid in 2020 with public and private seed funding raised largely through the Orcas Island Community Foundation. Since then, with the help of the San Juan Islands Community Foundation and many other public and private partners, it has grown into a model for other conservation corps around the country, helping young adults launch careers in natural resource management.

In just five years, ICC crews have restored 13,000 linear feet of streams; planted 47,735 plants and shrubs around the county, created biochar from 1,621 piles of downed woody debris, and thinned 135 acres of forest for fuels reduction and forest health treatments. Program graduates have started careers and their own companies in natural resource management, from California to New York, including ten graduates who are fully employed in positions in the San Juan Islands.

For this program to become what it is, community members have also offered their homes and land to ensure housing for ICC crew members. Research agencies have provided world class learning opportunities. Tribal partners have found trust and new opportunities to practice traditional land management techniques, conveying ancient wisdom upon a younger generation of environmental leaders.

One day after the notice of termination came from AmeriCorps, the Conservation District made the decision to retain all program participants by enlisting them as employees instead of contracted AmeriCorps members. This is a temporary fix that will cost the District roughly $20,000 per month and is expected to be in place until the middle of July when the 2024-25 season was scheduled to end. Over a 10-month annual season, the cost increase due to AmeriCorps cuts would be approaching $200,000.

Beyond the financial impact, much of the inherent value of working as a crew member is at risk,
s it was tied to the program’s unique design of educational offerings and the exposure to networking and other valuable career-building opportunities that went hand in hand.

The San Juan Islands Conservation District is working on ways to rebuild this program amidst uncertainty. If you would like to learn more about the Islands Conservation Corps, please visit our website at www.sanjuanislandscd.org/icc. If you would like to make a donation or contribute other resources to the program’s success, please reach out via email to Paul Andersson at paul@sjicd.org.

On behalf of the Islands Conservation Corps crew and SJICD staff and board, we appreciate the support that the local community has provided to this program and remain committed to its longevity and success.