Youth Conservation Corps Ready to Start Work!

— by Margie Doyle —

Last year’s fledgling Orcas Island Youth Conservation Corps, with crew leaders Marta and Phil Branch

Fifteen fortunate young people will work this summer to conserve nature on Orcas Island.

Mary Gropp is the new Program Director of the two-year old Orcas Island Youth Conservation Corps, and says, “The kids are so excited about doing things with the Corps; and I’m really interested in how this develops.”

Mary, a lifelong lover of the outdoors with experience in trail repairs, hiking, camping, kayaking, fishing and resource management, will lead the crew of 15 students aged 12-17. The Orcas Island Youth Conservation Corps (OIYCC) just completed enrollment and is fired up to  work on a variety of projects that emphasize stewardship of public lands and the natural environment.

Teamwork, job skills, and an ethic of community service are direct outcomes of the program, which meets twice a week for 16 weeks this summer. Phil Branch will return from last year to lead the group with Mary.

Their  tentative summer schedule is as follows:

• July 2 — Connor property Deer Harbor — Tool training & safety; tour Deer Harbor bridge replacement site; discuss watersheds; trail work
• July 3 — Buck Park Vitality Trail — Vitality trail/ wood chips, prune vegetation
• July 9 — OI Fire Department/ Buck Park — First Aid Training; Complete Buck Park work
• July 10 — San Juan Preservation Trust — Scotch Broom pull at Hanson Marsh- invasive weed ID and watershed/wetland ecology
• July 16-17 — SJ Co Land Bank — Deer Harbor Preserve trail completion; (possibly Turtleback if time)
• July 23 — Moran State Park — Primitive campground clean-up; establish tent sites, fire rings, paths
• July 24 — Entrance Mountain Preserve- Scotch broom pull
• July 30 — Freeman Island — Invasive weed removal; assessment of bare ground, help form action plan for trails
• July 31 — SJ Conservation District– Energy conservation training and outreach
• August 6-7 Moran State Park w/Washington Trails Association — Trail maintenance and structural work- Mountain Lake and Twin Lakes trails
• August 13-14 — Possible Camping trip
• August 20 — BLM/ San Juan Island Natl Monument — Skull Island  with Kwiaht — blackberry removal, plant inventory, beach clean-up
• August 21 — Freeman Island — implement trail plan formed in July; beach clean-up

The OIYCC will also make outreach efforts, in the County Conservation District/OPALCO energy fairs (on Orcas Island June 7) and at the Saturday Market in the Eastsound Village Green. The OIYCC experience goes beyond manual labor, to develop self- and group-assessment and identification of skills. The Youth Conservation Corps:
1) gives kids the opportunity to work outside and learn job skills;
2) maintains and supports public lands;
3) provides workers for landholders to improve their land.

The Orcas Island program operates through the Madrona Institute, a county non-profit dedicated to the welfare of kids (https://www.madrona.org). There has been a similar organization on Lopez Island for about eight years through the Bureau of Land Management,; and on San Juan Island for three years through the National Park Association.

This year, OIYCC operates in cooperation with Orcas Park and Recreation District, with financial support from the Lodging Tax (LTAC) from the San Juan Visitors Bureau and the Bureau of Land Management, as part of new national monument designation, to go to outer islands that are designated as part of the national monument.

The group will be Wednesdays and Thursdays for six hours a day in sessions including environmental education, team building and first aid training. Corps members have the opportunity to earn $25 stipend per day worked, and are paid at the end of the summer. The program may expand to fall and spring activities

Mary gives special acknowledgment to Wally Walrath and Ann Lister on the OIYCC advisory board for their help making  contacts with professionals in the conservation field, and helping “get the kids outside and working.”

In 2014, project partners and beneficiaries will include Moran State Park, Orcas Parks and Rec, Bureau of Land Management, San Juan Islands Conservation District, San Juan Preservation Trust, and San Juan County Land Bank.

Working kids are happy kids — last year after replacing the roof at the Stage on the Village Green

Last year, the kids in OIYCC donated a total of 713 person hours in 16 days to projects including trail building, invasive species removal, and the rain garden roof on the Village Green band shell.

Contributions to support the work of the OIYCC may be made through the Orcas Island Community Foundation’s “Give Orcas” site: oicferp.smalldognet.com/erp/donate/list/grant  or through the Madrona Institute: www.madrona.org