Updates & Stories

My crew and I have had the good fortune of spending the last five weeks working with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at the Sherburne National Wildlife Refuge near Princeton, Minnesota. The refuge covers around 20,000 acres and is a mixture of remnant oak savannah, one of the most threatened ecosystems on the globe, as well as expansive wetlands and oak forest. It is an important breeding ground for many waterfowl and is well-known for its sandhill cranes. Numerous species of migratory birds and native wildlife also find sanctuary within the refuge’s boundaries.Now on our sixth and final week at the refuge, I’m having a hard time waxing poetic in a way that does the experience justice. Luckily, I carry a decent camera around in my pocket; perhaps some photographs can do the job for me. Read More

I know what you’re thinking, and you’re probably right. A blog about safety? How boring. I would have to agree. It’s not the most exciting, but by taking safety seriously, heeding all warnings, and wearing proper personal protective equipment (PPE) we can all help ourselves avoid serious harm. With that in mind, just humor me.The Corps values the safety of its members, plain and simple. If I had a dime for every time in the first few weeks I heard the words safety and PPE, I would probably have a fair few dollars to spend. In fact for chainsaw and wildfire training the instructors actually said that if we answered ‘safety’ for questions on the test that we just might receive some credit even if we didn’t know the answer. While that might be a bit of an exaggeration, it illustrates how we are to have situational awareness at all times and be very mindful of our actions; one little kickback of the chainsaw for a novice sawyer can cause a world of hurt. Read More

I’ve gotta give a shout out to Stihl Chainsaws. At -20F it’s tough to get anything running at all, but with just a few pulls those saws were roaring and it was time to get to work.  And so went the winter.I was hired back for another term with the Conservation Corps field crews, this time as the crew leader of the Metro Roving crew. Between the end of the last term and the beginning of the current term, those of us who were hired back worked as an interim crew on a couple of different projects. You may or may not recall but it was a particularly cold winter, the coldest in about 30 years in fact, and hence the coldest winter everyone on the crew has ever experienced. The fact that we continued to get work done each day (save the few that were called off due to dangerously cold temperatures) is testament to the reputation of the Corps and the ethic that is instilled in Corps members. We work smart and we work hard because we believe that our accomplishments are integral in conserving our environment. Read More

When was the last time you hiked three miles carrying a 45-pound pack in 45 minutes or less? Young adult corps members must do exactly that to pass the work capacity test ― called the pack test ― administered at the beginning of their service term, immediately following orientation.   Read More

The past couple of weeks have been good burning weather so we have been doing a lot of prescribed burns in the local state parks. We have burned two bluff prairies in Great River State Park in Nodine, MN. This slanted picture of fire running up hill is the actual gradient of the goat prairie, if you stood straight up you would fall over. Walking down the bottom of this prairie was quite the adventure! Read More

Though Jane Sunram served in the Corps more than 30 years ago, she still remembers her summer in the Young Adult Conservation Corps as a great opportunity that included hard work and changed her relationship with nature. Her crew was based in cabins at Lake Itasca, working days in the field. Read More

Catch up on Rachel Tooker, who served as a crew leader from 2008-2010 in Rochester, MN and Ames, IA. Read More

It might have been the chainsaw that lured Hollis Emery to northeast Minnesota to serve as a crew leader in 2010. The previous year, she had left a California law firm job to serve EarthCorps in Seattle and was hooked on the Corps experience. Read More