Updates & Stories

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

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

Winter storms disabled park and many cities in southwest Minnesota April 23, 2013. Saint Paul, Minn. – Blue Mounds State Park staff called upon Conservation Corps Minnesota to help restore operations at the park after devastating winter storms earlier this month took down many trees and branches in the campground, located in Luverne, Minn. Gov. Dayton declared a state of emergency in the southwest Minnesota region, after sending in the National Guard to assist with recovery. Read More

My search this month for my grandfather in history has been aided by the fact that the original CCC era is extremely well preserved. Minnesota was one of the most active in the federally run program, with 148 camps throughout the state. It changed the lives of not only the almost 80,000 men who were enrolled in the program but also the countless number of military staff members and L.E.M (Local Experienced Men) who participated. Read More

I’m going to talk about the weather. It’s an all-too-frequent conversational topic lately; but don’t kid yourself- you love it. And if you don’t, please look deep down and really consider your Minnesotanhood.Check the state rankings of per capita smartphone weather app downloads- Minnesota tops every list (citation needed). If you’ve got less than three different weather apps on your phone, good luck making any friends here. Read More