Updates & Stories

Drawn together by their common experience in Corps programs, youth alumni spent the morning cleaning up and prepping a Youth Farm garden site in West Saint Paul on April 25. Read More

For the past month the Metro Roving crew has had the good fortune of working at Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge. I grew up visiting state and national parks with my family, but had no idea that there are 560 refuges in the U.S.! These places provide habitat for hundreds of bird, mammal, reptile and amphibian species, including many that are threatened or endangered.  Read More

Conservation Corps is celebrating Earth Day all week with volunteer and outreach events. Here is a rundown of what we have going on. Read More

On a made-to-order spring morning, almost 150 people showed up at Harriet Island in Saint Paul on Saturday, April 18 to help with the annual Citywide Cleanup. Conservation Corps Youth Outdoors (YO) crews scattered throughout the city to help lead the effort at six cleanup sites, which collectively hosted 1,000 volunteers. Read More

What started out as an ornamental hedgerow material brought over from Europe in the 1800s, common or European buckthorn can now be found in just about every county in Minnesota. Buckthorn is one of the first plants to leaf out in the spring and last to lose its leaves in the fall, allowing it to do a spectacular job at outcompeting and preventing the growth of native species. Read More

With the sun warming REI's outdoor patio in Bloomington, more than 50 volunteers gathered to make 147 dozen seed bombs. Hands worked fast to make this record-setting amount, which will be distributed by Conservation Corps youth and young adults in natural restoration areas.  Read More

Spring is here, bringing with it the return of a variety of native and non-native species. As the snow melts and the ground finally thaws, Minnesota’s familiar plant species eagerly sprout to meet the sun. It’s an invigorating sight after a long, dismal winter. However, many of the early-riser species in Minnesota are considered invasive. Read More

Want a free Corps Tools of the Trade t-shirt (and who doesn’t)? Get yours by signing up for recurring donations (monthly, quarterly, weekly or bi-weekly) to Conservation Corps.  Read More

Though industrious beavers built an impressive dam alongside a man-made one on the Sturgeon River in Side Lake, Minn., it had to go. On March 19, the Grand Rapids crew waded out into the river to dig out the beaver dam with pitchforks.  Read More

Mary Hammes’ path to her current job with the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency traversed three Corps programs: she served on a seasonal Superior National Forest… Read More