Senator Wyden lends support for funding of the Public Lands Corps Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2005

May 2006

U.S. Senator Wyden joins Senators Bingaman and Coleman in support of the Public Lands Corps Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2005 (P.L. 109-154).¹ The Public Lands Corps Act, signed by President Bush on December 30, 2005, improves the existing relationships between corps programs and public land management agencies. Congress has authorized spending $12 million to contract with service and conservation corps programs nationwide to efficiently and cost-effectively maintain and enhance our public lands. 

The Act focuses on disaster relief and prevention and other priority projects that reduce wildfire risk, protect watersheds, address bark beetle and other insect and disease infestations, and restore forest ecosystems. Northwest Youth Corps (NYC) has a 22-year history of successfully partnering with federal agencies to complete priority forest health projects on public lands throughout the Pacific Northwest.

Currently, service and conservation corps programs enroll more than 23,000 young men and women who provide 13 million hours of service work each year. Research has shown that youth who complete corps programs, such as Northwest Youth Corps, have higher rates of employment, score higher on measures of personal and social responsibility, and are more likely to earn a college degree.² Project work opportunities provided by this legislation would allow Northwest Youth Corps and other service and conservation programs to enroll more young people, expanding the act benefits far beyond public lands. 

1. Office of U.S. Senator Ron Wyden http://wyden.senate.gov/
2. NASCC http://www.nascc.org/

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