For Immediate Release: August 7, 2009
Contact: Amy Gaskill, APR; (503) 231-6121
FFS# R1NA/R1ND

Portland, OR - The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) is providing over $300,000 to enable the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Pacific Region to create approximately 89 seasonal and temporary jobs for young people. These youth will work on 14 national wildlife refuges across the region over the 18 months of the program. All but one youth is employed through the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC). The one who isn’t affiliated with YCC is employed at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge through the Student Temporary Employment Program.

These Recovery Act youth job programs create career opportunities that enable youth in both rural and urban areas to gain valuable job experience and consider careers in conservation. At the same time, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is able to complete vital work to help fulfill the agency’s conservation mission.

The YCC allows the Service to hire students, ages 15 to 18, to assist with routine grounds maintenance projects, habitat management and public outreach on national wildlife refuges.

The YCC was established in 1971 as a three-year pilot program, to involve young adults from different social, economic, and cultural backgrounds and place them in an environment where they could cultivate work, social and educational skills. In 1974, YCC became a permanent institution. Since its inception, YCC has worked with many conservation agencies throughout the country to provide education and team-building skills for young people. Hundreds of employees currently working in land management agencies were introduced to the field via YCC.

The Student Temporary Employment (STEP) benefits both agencies and students. Agencies can discover first-hand the abilities of a potential employee and students can avail themselves of year-round employment and flexible work schedules and assignments. The STEP aids in recruiting and developing talented employees to support changing agency missions; ensures that the Service can meet its professional, technical, and administrative needs; and helps achieve a quality and diverse workforce.

“Employing young people to aid our conservation mission is an investment in America’s future,” said Robyn Thorson, the Service’s Pacific Regional Director. “Their work helps preserve our natural heritage by conserving and restoring essential wildlife habitat.”

The funding from ARRA for youth programs will be split between fiscal years 2009 and 2010. This year’s ARRA funding totaled $152,500, allowing the Pacific Region’s Refuge Program to hire 43 YCC crewmembers and one STEP employee. In fiscal year 2010, the number of YCC crewmembers is expected to be around 45.

This summer, ARRA funding allowed the Refuge Program to use its annual youth employment budget to hire an additional 47 YCC crewmembers with the intent to hire 47 crewmembers next summer.

This year’s 44 ARRA funded youth job program crewmembers are accomplishing the following activities on eight refuges:

Bear Lake NWR

Crew: One college-age team leader; five high school-age crewmembers
Funding Total: $23,206 with $2,865 in management capability expenses
Point of Contact: Annette de Knijf; (208) 847-1757
Tasks: Pulling noxious weeds, staining information kiosks, gravelling nature trails, cementing fence posts, cleaning photo and hunting blinds, picking up trash and maintaining refuge workshops. While preparing for the mandatory environmental awareness training sessions, one crewmember marveled, “Now I know the names of some of the birds.” As part of their environmental awareness component of YCC, this crew visited the Minnetonka Cave in the Cache National Forest.

Ridgefield NWR

Crew: One college-age team leader; six high school-age crewmembers
Funding Total: $23,206 with $5,215 in management capability expenses
Point of Contact: Eric Anderson; (360) 887-4106
Tasks: Maintaining trails, offices, facilities and public use areas; protecting native vegetation; surveying native tree plantings at restoration sites; helping to control invasive species; and posting refuge signage.

Finley National Wildlife Refuge

Crew: One college-age team leader; four high school-age crewmembers
Funding Total: $23,206 with $8,450 in management capability expenses
Point of Contact: Sallie Gentry; (541) 757-7236
Tasks: Maintaining trails and visitor facilities, removing invasive species, assisting biologist with bird studies, constructing fences, and maintaining native plants. They have also posted boundary signage, provided historical building maintenance, constructed nest boxes, and assisted with the move to a new refuge administrative building. One of the crewmembers is a pitcher for his high school baseball team. The team leader often tells him, “Save some of your arm for weed whacking tomorrow!” The team call themselves “Team Neon,” for the orange safety vests they wear when working around the Refuge roads.

Ankeny and Baskett Slough National Wildlife Refuges

Crew: One college-age team leader; four high school-age crewmembers
Funding Total: $23,206 with $8,450 in management capability expenses
Point of Contact: John Gahr; (541) 623-7883
Tasks: Watering more than 3,000 newly planted cottonwood, red alder and Oregon ash trees on Ankeny NWR, which greatly increases the trees’ chances of survival. The crew has also been maintaining trails and the boardwalk; repairing boundary fences; and eradicating invasive tansy, ragwort, and purple loose strife. For their environmental education component, the crew has banded birds, built bird boxes for blue birds and wood ducks, and worked with the Oregon Coastal Refuge staff. They also visited the Oregon Aquarium and the Hatfield Science Center.

Willapa National Wildlife Refuge

Crew: One college-age team leader; six high school-age crewmembers
Funding Total: $23,205 with $5,747 in management capability expenses
Point of Contact: Mariana Bergerson; (360) 484-3482
Tasks: Willapa has had YCC crews on site every summer since 2002. Traditionally, they spend a few days each summer working at neighboring Julia Butler Hansen (JBH) Refuge to accomplish only the basic maintenance tasks. With ARRA funding, Willapa was able to hire two crews to accomplish much more! The Willapa crew has been maintaining the refuge trails (e.g., Salmon Art Trail, Leadbetter Point Trail, Teal Slough Trail, Long Island Trails), maintaining the Long Island campgrounds, preparing the site for a new interpretive artwork installation, helping set-up for the Willapa Bay Friends group annual event, and doing basic headquarters maintenance (e.g., weeding, painting, waterproofing, trash pick-up).

Julia Butler Hanson National Wildlife Refuge

Crew: One college-age team leader; five high school-age crewmembers from Wahkiakum and Cathlamet, Washington
Funding Total: $23,205 with $5,747 in expenses
Point of Contact: Mariana Bergerson; (360) 848-3482
Tasks: This is the first year that JBH has hired a YCC crew. The crew is placing plastic tree protectors on saplings that were planted to enhance deer habitat, removing old fences, maintaining headquarters (e.g., painting interpretive areas and shops, waterproofing, weedeating), removing invasive species, and conducting deer surveys with staff biologists.
NOTE: Both Willapa and JBH crews work together on some projects and jointly participate in environmental education field trips every other week. This year, the YCC crews will travel to Ridgefield NWR, Abernathy Fish Technology Center, Nisqually NWR and Pierce NWR to learn about the natural and cultural resources in the surrounding area. As crewmember Shelby Leeland summed it up, “One main thing that I learned from working at the Willapa Wildlife Refuge this summer is how to work as a team. If we didn’t come together for all of the projects we have had, nothing would get done.”

Oahu National Wildlife Refuge Complex

Crew: One college-age team leader; six Native Hawaiian high school-age crewmembers
Funding Total: $35,264
Point of Contact: Dave Ellis; (808) 637-6330
Tasks: This is the second year that the Oahu NWR Complex has had YCC crews working on site. The crew is pulling invasive plants, planting endangered plants, maintaining trails, controlling exotic species predators, and digging ankle pools (restoration of small pools for endangered brackish shrimp). The YCC crew is taking part in a number of environmental education programs led by non-profit organizations and refuge staff. This year’s team was augmented with two additional crewmembers funded through the Service’s Ecological Services Program. The YCC program in Hawaii is Pono Pacific, meaning it targets Native Hawaiian students in its recruitment, giving North Shore and Pacific Islander students an opportunity to participate in this unique program.

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

Crew: One Student Temporary Employment Program (STEP)
Funding Total: $8,000
Point of Contact: Tim Bodeen; (541) 493-2612
Tasks: The STEP employee is helping to generate documentation and provide on-the-ground verification for upcoming Recovery Act projects. He is from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls and served eight years with the Marines (two tours in Iraq). His Marine first responder training gave him the ability to provide assistance to two people who were injured in a motorcycle accident outside Frenchglen, Oregon.

The youth employment program is just one category of the $34.8 million that the Pacific Region received under the President’s Recovery Plan. These funds will be used to implement 80 projects across the states of Hawaii, Washington, Idaho and Oregon. These projects break down into several areas, which include the following:

• Capital improvements reconstruction and repair on National Wildlife Refuges, National Fish Hatcheries and a Fish Technology Center: $24.9 million (including $4.2 million for energy efficiency retrofits of Service facilities).
• Construction of a new visitor center and other facilities at Keālia Pond NWR in Hawaii.
• Habitat restoration: $2.3 million.
• Nearly $300,000 for youth employment to be split between Fiscal Years 2009 and 2010.

Under ARRA, the Department of the Interior is making an investment in conserving America’s timeless natural and historical treasures, while also focusing on renewable energy projects, employing youth and promoting community service.

For a full list of funded projects nationwide, go to the Department’s Recovery Web Site at http://recovery.doi.gov. Secretary Salazar has pledged unprecedented levels of transparency and accountability in the implementation of the Department of the Interior’s economic recovery projects. The public will be able to follow the progress of each project on the recovery web site, which includes an interactive map that enables the public to track where and how the Department’s recovery dollars are being spent.

The mission of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working with others to conserve, protect and enhance fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats for the continuing benefit of the American people. We are both a leader and trusted partner in fish and wildlife conservation, known for our scientific excellence, stewardship of lands and natural resources, dedicated professionals and commitment to public service. For more information on our work and the people who make it happen, visit www.fws.gov.