Updates & Stories

This week will be my last week of having a Youth Outdoors crew for the spring. It has prompted a lot of reflection for me as well as my crew. For me it feels odd to be finishing up so soon. It seems like just yesterday was our first day when we were all anxiously awaiting a new group, a new schedule and a lot of unknowns. Read More

Our North Minneapolis crew generally begins our non-youth workdays with a “good morning!” phone call to our project hosts at the Park Board, followed by a short meeting at the day’s project site. The sites are diverse, however, and there are times (many times) when I have thought to myself, “Where could they be taking us now?” In order to shape urban high-schoolers into proactive environmentalists, we first must educate ourselves, the leaders, and practice what we preach. Consequently, the adult workdays are a collaboration between Conservation Corps and the Minneapolis Parks and Recreation Board on restoration projects (mostly invasive species removal) throughout the city. Read More

  Corps members Jeff Pechacek (holding tree) and Aaron Gamm planted boulevard trees with local volunteers.On Saturday, April 27, 20… Read More

The Water Trails crew, the crew I serve on, has begun our river work over the last month bringing us to places such as Cambridge to work on the Rum River, Sauk Rapids to work on the Sauk River, to Duluth to undergo our whitewater training on the St. Louis River. I'm especially proud to work on the Water Trails crew because this year marks the 50th anniversary of the Minnesota Water Trails. Four rivers, the Minnesota, the St. Croix, the Big Fork and the Little Fork were originally designated as Water Trails in 1963 and over the last fifty years that list has grown to 33 rivers. To celebrate the anniversary, the DNR partnered with Wilderness Inquiry and CURE (Clean Up the River Environment) to host a celebration on the Minnesota River in Granite Falls. Wilderness Inquiry provided large cedar-strip canoes for festival-goers to paddle down about three miles of the river. Every few hundred yards, community members in period garments staged scenes from the river's history on shore while the audience watched from their canoes on the river. Read More

Looking for more ways to get directly involved with Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa? Want to work alongside our youth crews, be active… Read More

Front row, from left: Amy Yoakum (Story County Conservation), Chris Severson, Allison McIntosh, Theo Westhues, Katie Thompson, Josh Meggers. Back… Read More

By Dita Amtey, Youth Outdoors AmeriCorps member Corps members build raised plant beds at Brooklyn Center High School. Foreground: Santwoine… Read More

We are excited to welcome four new people to our Board of Directors. They come from a variety of backgrounds and experience, and we look… Read More

All Corps Day focused on housing and environmental justice Photo, from left: Whitney Wais, Meg Veitenheimer, David Rittenhouse, Jason Hagemeier and Polly… Read More

May 6th marked Conservation Corps Minnesota’s second All Corps Day community service project. While the previous All Corps Day addressed issues of homelessness and housing, this warm spring afternoon made for an opportunity for corps members of different programs to meet and learn about environmental education, more specifically, local schoolyard gardening. Together members visited Rivers Edge Academy, a local charter school with an alternative, environmentally driven curriculum. Afterwards, corps members heard about the work of Eco Education, a nonprofit dedicated to enhancing public outdoor education by teaming up with local schools. The group ended the day at Brooklyn Center High School constructing what will soon be a schoolyard garden. Read More