Idaho Conservation Corps

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 …

Field News Recap – August Read more of this article »

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 …

Field News Recap – Youth Camping Crews – Session One Read more of this article »

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 …

Field News Recap – March Read more of this article »