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Enter the Conservation Corps Minnesota & Iowa photo contest for your chance at fame and fortune (an REI gift card). The contest is open to any individual serving in a Corps program during 2014, including field crews, seasonal trail crews, Home Energy Squads, conservation apprenticeships, individual placements, Summer Youth Corps and Youth Outdoors. Read More

Here in the Northwest District, crews form just a little later than the rest of the state. We’ve been together for about six weeks now, and I’m glad to report that all is well for the Ottertail crew.I think the most challenging part of these early weeks is the so-called “training limbo,” the sense that the learning and waiting portion of our service will never end. Questions like, “When will we start actually working?” are frequent, and even as a leader, it becomes difficult to practice patience and steady attention. Read More

Amy Grace and her family showed up ready to work and make a difference for the Conservation Corps St. Croix riverfront cleanups lead by Summer Youth Corps crews for the past two years. Grace, a Stillwater resident and active community member, values participating in volunteer events with her family. Instilling a sense of service early in her kids, Peter and Ella, is important to her because she wants her kids to work for a better future. Read More

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

During my three months as a solar heat outreach specialist, I have worked to make connections with community resources while figuring out exactly how my job works. Lately, I feel a lot more like I know what I am doing. I performed my solar furnace presentation for a crowd at an event called Solar Day, which I had devoted much of my work time to since starting. Despite my newness, everything went well. I managed to start a couple of relationships with groups interested in using solar furnaces for themselves and had fun sharing with various others. I even got to be on the local news! It was satisfying to see the payoff of jumping right in. That day is definitely a highlight of my service so far. Read More