Idaho Conservation Corps

Idaho Conservation Corps Update: camping crews – young adult In October, Red crew partnered with Washington DNR at Ahtanum State Forest near Yakima, transforming a two-track trail into a single track. They also restored Selah Cliffs Natural Area Preserve by planting native seeds such as Blue Bunch Wheatgrass and Idaho Fescue. Heading to City of Rocks in southern Idaho, they constructed 1,400 feet of fencing and maintained existing lines. In November, they joined the Idaho City Ranger District in Boise National Forest, conducting timber surveys on 23.5 acres of Ponderosa Pines and Douglas Firs. Orange crew focused on habitat restoration in October, working with the Idaho Falls BLM at the Upper Snake Field Office. They completed various fencing projects and planted 1,386 native shrubs, including Snowberry and Choke Cherry. Yellow crew began October in Halfway, Oregon, completing fuels reduction on 15.5 acres around private residences to mitigate wildfire risks. Next, they traveled to Walla Walla, Washington, working with the Army Corps of Engineers to clear 20,000 square feet of noxious weeds and thin 4.2 acres of brush. In November, they tackled greenhouse tasks at Washougal Oaks and Lacamas Prairie Natural Areas in Washington, planting 3,700 native plugs. Their final project was at City of

Idaho Conservation Corps Update: Idaho Conservation Corps launched three young adult crews this month. In the beginning of September, 10 members met their leaders at the Boise office and headed up to Boise National Forest and Payette National Forest for training. There, the crews split off to start their unique project work throughout Idaho and Washington.   For their first two weeks, Red crew worked with City of Rocks National Reserve, removing sagebrush and widening the tread on the North Fork Circle Creek Trail and Graham Creek Canyon Trail. After brushing, they serviced the fencing by fixing barbed wire and installing metal t-bars.    They finished September in Payette National Forest in the New Meadows Ranger District. They worked on fence removal and Flow Permanence Surveys with the Payette National Forest hydrology staff in Round Valley Creek and Price Valley.   Orange crew headed up to Washington for their first two weeks to work with the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) in Yacolt Burn State Forest. They were assisting in the preparation for the installment of a bridge over Cold Creek. They brushed about 2,795 ft of trail that leads to a new 69 foot trail that they constructed, that will eventually

Idaho Conservation Corps Update: Youth Camping Red crew traveled to Yakima, WA, for trail maintenance and bridge repair with the Washington Department of Natural Resources. Brown crew (Backcountry Leadership Program), supported by Idaho Fish and Game, flew into the Frank Church River-of-No-Return Wilderness Area by bush plane. They hiked eight miles to their campsite and spent two weeks clearing trails for improved access, and they got to experience a mule-packout at the end (Mules are loaded with gear bags and led along trails to deliver or retrieve necessary items to remote areas). Orange crew worked in the Minidoka and Fairfield Ranger Districts of the Sawtooth National Forest, completing trail maintenance on the Virginia Gulch Trail. young adult Camping Red crew wrapped up their beaver dam analog projects in Oregon. Orange crew focused on tree surveys and water bar installations on trails  to divert water off the trail to prevent erosion. Yellow crew maintained corridor on Payette National Forest trails, saving them from being overgrown and unusable. The All-Women Blue crew worked on corridor maintenance and trail clearing in Payette National Forest. Both Red and Blue crews got to host a visit from Senator James Risch’s Washington DC staff. Click Here for updates from northwest youth corps washington

Idaho Conservation Corps Update: The first week of July marked the final week of the first camping session, with crews engaged in various long-term projects. The Backcountry Leadership Program (BLP) (YCC 4) was ten miles into the backcountry of the Frank Church Wilderness, conducting trail maintenance. Blue crew (YCC 2) was up north in the Panhandle, brushing out several trails for the St. Joe Ranger District. Meanwhile, Red and Orange crews (YCC 3 and 5) camped together and worked on separate trails for the Emmett Ranger District in the Boise National Forest. Many of these projects will be picked up by the second session crews. All crews graduated on July 6th with a celebratory event at Liberty Park in Boise. Following a week off for our leads and the arrival of a new group of participants, orientation for the second session was held on July 13th, and four crews headed back into the field the next day. Backcounty Leadership Program (BLP) (YCC 17) resumed their predecessor’s trail project in the Frank Church Wilderness, focusing on brushing and tread work for the Salmon-Challis National Forest, and will continue through the end of the month. Blue crew (YCC 15) started work on

Idaho Conservation Corps Update: We are thrilled to provide you with a recap of the exciting activities and accomplishments of the Idaho Conservation Corps (ICC) crews for June. Our members have been diligently working across the state, contributing to important conservation projects and gaining valuable hands-on experience.  All four Youth crews arrived on June 1st and camped together at Lucky Peak Nursery for their first night, creating a strong sense of camaraderie before heading out to their respective project sites. Blue Crew started their journey in the Steens Mountains of Oregon, spending the first two weeks working on various trails with the Burns BLM. Their tasks included brushing and tread work, ensuring the trails were well-maintained. Following this, they collaborated with the Boise BLM on a fencing project in the Owyhees, repairing and removing fences to protect habitats from cattle. As June came to an end and July began, they headed north to the Panhandle to work with the St Joe Ranger District on trail maintenance and brushing. Red Crew began their month at Grays Lake National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Idaho, focusing on repairing fences to protect habitats from cattle. This important work was even featured in an upcoming

Idaho Conservation Corps Update: Idaho Conservation Corps’ (ICC) first-ever Urban and Community Forestry (UCF) Young Adult crews concluded their 12-week session on May 10th. Under the guidance of two dedicated leaders, eight members graduated, marking the end of a productive season with impressive PowerPoint presentations showcasing their projects and accomplishments. The graduation ceremony was a highlight, with a few of our project partners in attendance. They celebrated the occasion with heartfelt speeches, expressing their gratitude and congratulations for the crews’ hard work. The graduates received shirts, pins, and other gifts as tokens of appreciation. Notably, one member and one leader from this crew have decided to continue with ICC for the summer, co-leading one of our UCF Youth Crews. On May 18th, our two Young Adult (YA) Camping crews also celebrated their graduation, concluding a 10-week stint of camping and working across the Gem State. These crews, comprised of two leaders and seven members, ended their term with surveying work in collaboration with the Idaho City Ranger District of the Boise National Forest. Their tasks included both timber and silviculture surveys, in addition to a week dedicated to invasive species management and fencing projects with the Army Corps of Engineers

Idaho Update: In April, Idaho’s Red crew started out on a bridge project on the Sawtooth National Forest with Minidoka Ranger District. They carried stringers and decking (beams and walkway support), built gabions (large cages filled with rocks or concrete), and worked on a footbridge heading out of Harrington Creek picnic area onto Harrington Creek trail. Their next project took them north to Coeur d’Alene, ID, where they spent two weeks brushing and logging out the Canfield Mountain Trail System for the Idaho Panhandle National Forest, joined by Washington’s red crew. Next, they returned to Harrington Creek and continued working on trail maintenance on the Minidoka Ranger District. Here, they worked to widen the tread and brush the overgrown sections. For their last week in April, they moved to Idaho City to complete tree surveys for the Boise National Forest. Orange crew began the month finishing a fencing project they had started in March – repairing cattle enclosure fencing for the Boise BLM at Trail and Wolf creeks. They then moved to the same Harrington Creek trail project that red crew had just left – fixing trails and finishing the bridge. They then moved up to Coeur d’Alene, where they continued trail maintenance

Idaho Update: Idaho UCF crews tackled a variety of challenges this month. Yellow Crew and Blue Crew continued working to get Nampa Forestry’s internal tree inventory software up to date by mapping and inputting more than 375 trees around Nampa’s city parks. Crews also helped clear approximately 1/2 mile of invasive Himalayan Elms. Both crews received their A Bucking and Felling USDA Forest Service Chainsaw certifications from our internal evaluator Jeff Olsen.  After certification, crews helped remove 18 dying Arborvitae trees that were planted at a historic Nampa cemetery and spent roughly 50 hours chipping tree debris. Crews will be back to assist the city with grinding old tree stumps and eventually planting a diverse row of trees to replace those removed. Additionally, with help from the Idaho Forestry Department, crews planted approximately 80 trees in a nursery to establish root systems over the next 2-5 years before being planted throughout the city.  Crews have also assisted the Idaho Fish and Game Department with planting 600 live willow stakes at two new fishing ponds to help establish a healthier ecosystem around the ponds by creating shade. Crews harvested, processed and planted the 600 stakes at Claytonia Fishing Pond and Dick Knox Fishing Pond.   Click

Idaho Update: Our Yellow Crew overcame incredible challenges this session, including a roughly 2000’ elevation gain hike into their first week of work at Phoebe Meadows in the Payette National Forest.  They completed a trail reroute which entailed digging almost a mile of brand-new trail to avoid the sensitive high alpine meadow.  They also got to spend a week near the historic lake Roosevelt where they got to experience the usage of trail pack mules to assist in loading in their gear for the week.  They finished off a turnpike project that the Montana Conservation Corps started but was unable to complete.  Putting the final touches on a project can be some of the most satisfying trail work out there! The Orange crew had a variety of work each week being different from the last.  Started off doing trail work with the Beaur of Land Management out of the Twin Falls District doing some thinning of Doug firs that were encroaching on high alpine poplar stands that are common breeding grounds for elk.  They then moved onto doing trail work near the city of rocks national monument on higher elevation trials around Cache Peak.  Once completing trail work, they got

Idaho Update: Our Idaho Conservation Corps Youth Camping Crew 7 had a variety of work throughout their session. They started in the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest for their first three weeks. Week 1 was spent doing light tread repair and brushing out a grown-in trail. The next two weeks were spent doing invasive species removal in a different part of the forest before the crew headed out to the Malheur National Forest. They continued an on-going trail repair project before heading back to the coast to work in Coos Bay doing campground maintenance and invasive species removal ICC Youth Camping Crew 8 spent their first 3 weeks doing some serious trail maintenance and log out. The started in the Fremont-Winema National Forest working alongside 2 other crews before moving to the Umpqua National Forest to work on the North Umpqua Trail. They headed out to eastern Oregon into the Malheur National Forest for one more week of heavy trail work before spending their final 2 weeks in Mt. Hood National Forest doing some lighter trail maintenance and brushing. ICC Youth Camping Crew 9 spent 2 weeks in the Fremont-Winema National Forest working with a couple other youth crews doing trail

Idaho Update: Idaho graduated two crews in May. One of them, our Women’s saw crew finished out their season out of the beautiful Grandjean campground in the Sawtooth National Forest.  After having to delay the project for a couple weeks due to snow pack levels, they finally got to work in Idaho’s forests performing thinning work alongside the USFS Timber crew.  They removed trees within the campground in order to protect structures from wildfire risk, then used their tree ID skills to thin a 9 acre parcel of undesirable species. The second, our young adult red crew put some miles on their crew truck this season, and the last couple weeks were no exception!  They went from doing campground maintenance work in Mt. Hood all the way up to the Idaho Panhandle, where their final week was spent working at Idaho Fish and Game’s Kootenai Wildlife Refuge.  They worked on a variety of tasks, including removing old fence posts, landscaping work, and removing sod. Previous image Next image Click here to read about what our crews in other states are up to! https://www.nwyouthcorps.org/field-news-recap-may/

Idaho Update: With snow still on the ground in Idaho our Idaho Conservation Corps crews teamed up with Northwest Youth Corps in Washington and Oregon.  Our ICC women’s crew partnered with Washington Department of Natural Resources on a forestry thinning project near a middle school.  They also installed a rock fire prevention wall around a conservancy building.  Now they have headed to work on a project with Prineville Bureau of Land Management. Our young adult crew has also been working with Washington DNR, but in the Olympic Peninsula.  Some crew members have said that it was the most beautiful place they have ever seen. The crew is now headed to the Siuslaw National Forest in Oregon where they will complete trail work with project partners. Previous Next Click here to read about what our crews in other states are up to! https://www.nwyouthcorps.org/field-news-recap-april/

Idaho Update: Idaho has launched two spring young adult crews earlier than ever before. These crews kicked off the season working with our partners the Washington Department of Natural Resources. One of these two crews is our women’s specific crew who have all received their USFS chainsaw certifications before heading out for their first project in the Spokane/Colville region.  This crew has been busy working on campground maintenance, fence repair and removing trash from a natural area. They will be sticking in the same part of the region, but changing gears from Developed Recreation to Community Forestry work with a new partner.  They’ll spend their next three weeks thinning a 12-acre parcel that is overstocked with pine trees, reducing wildfire risk in an area badly in need of fuels reduction.  Our red crew has been in the Vancouver, WA region focusing on trail maintenance. This crew  hit the ground running, quarrying local rock to use for a large turnpike and rock retaining walls.  Despite lots of rain, snow, and high winds, these rock hounds knocked out an impressive amount of rock turnpike, crib walls, as well as some other general trail and campground maintenance. The next stop for this crew