Stimulus Funding Hits the Ground to Prevent Beetle Kill Trees from Hitting the Ground
By Gretchen Van De Carr, Executive Director,
Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, CO
In February 2009, the federal government began to allocate funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Five-hundred thousand dollars was allocated to the Region 2 Forest Service to address the widespread pine beetle epidemic. The Forest Service immediately entered into an agreement with the Colorado Youth Corps Association who proceeded to manage the operating and financial plans to be fielded by three Colorado youth corps—Rocky Mountain Youth Corps (Steamboat Springs), Southwest Conservation Corps (Durango), and Western Colorado Conservation Corps (Grand Junction)—who collectively determined that they could provide fifty-four crew-weeks of work, and could hit the ground running as soon as May 2009.
Rocky Mountain Youth Corps (RMYC) has been working in the local National Forests over the past year to begin to address the pine beetle epidemic by cutting down infested trees, and separating the refuse into usable and non-usable piles. RMYC is receiving $254,260 of the ARRA funding to provide the supplies, tools, trailers, and training to operate three chain saw crews for nine weeks each during the 2009 summer and fall project season (June-October). The crews are composed of ten young adults, ages nineteen to twenty-five years, who are trained in chainsaw use, outdoor living, and life skills development. These corps members are enrolled into the program on a 24/7 basis for the entirety of their employment, living on the project-site and providing forty hours of work each week. They are trained to fell infested trees up to twelve inches in diameter. The project list spans two National Forests and five ranger districts from Yampa, CO to Pinedale, WY.
How Does This Funding Stimulate Our Economy?
Young adults experience five times the negative impact on their employment status that older adults experience (most businesses employ more mature adults over younger when given the choice). RMYC will employ a total of thirty-two members and staff through this funding, and a total of 170 over the course of all 2009 projects. This year, RMYC has received ten times more applications from local young adults than ever before. Each corps member receives a wage. Young adults are more likely to spend their money in local businesses than they are to put it into a retirement or other savings account.
Additionally, the majority of these corps members enroll into RMYC “AmeriCorps Program,” thus receiving an additional financial award in the form of a voucher that can be used for higher education and which they will spend at colleges and universities.
In order for RMYC to be able to increase our conservation corps program to employ an additional two saw crews, we had to build our capacity through the purchase of tools, gear, trailers, vehicle and office leases, insurance coverage, food, fuel, and other necessities. In the first month of this program, RMYC has spent $28,000 locally (at vendors such as Sasak Trailers, Crown Prints, Precision Saws, Steamboat Motors, Northwest Data Services, BAP, and ACE Hardware) and we have not even put crews in the field yet!
When you see those RMYC crew members out there mitigating the beetle kill, think of all the ancillary benefits of their labor as they bring a variety of stimulating resources to our community!
Features
The Beetle Kill Issue
10 Years Strong
Building Green With Beetle Kill Wood
A Cut Above - Harvesting and Milling
Securing Safer Forests by Salvaging Snags
Stimulus Funding Hits the Ground
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