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Oregon’s spring young adult blue crew started the month with two weeks of work along the McKenzie River with the Pure Water Partners (PWP). Northwest Youth Corps has worked with Pure Water Partners to restore habitat that was destroyed by the 2020 Holiday Farm Fire since PWP’s inception. Blue crew later served with the Siuslaw National Forest, where they improved recreational facilities for a week. For the final two weeks of April the crew served with Oregon Parks and Recreation Department at Cape Falcon State Park where they restored tread along the Oregon Coast Trail.
Yellow crew started their month with the Medford Bureau of Land Management (BLM), rerouting the Upper Table Rock Trail. They then improved campsites and other developed recreation sites at the Eel Creek Campground with the Siuslaw National Forest. They spent one week with Oregon Equestrian Trails brushing and widening their trail system. And for the last two weeks of April, Yellow crew removed Russian olive, black locust, and other invasive tree species with the Army Corps of Engineers at Irrigon Parks and Recreation District.
Orange crew began their month working with the City of Springfield at The Biocycle Farm, planting and maintaining poplar trees that will eventually be used as an important lumber product. This work continues a long-standing relationship with the Biocycle Farm. Orange crew then spent a week with the Blue Mountain Land Trust clearing trails. They then worked at Drift Creek Falls with the Siuslaw National Forest improving developed recreation sites. The final week of April found Orange Crew working with the Pure Water Partners along the McKenzie, clearing invasives from homeowner’s lands.
Red crew began working with the Siuslaw National Forest at the River Edge Campground, clearing and improving campsites. They then moved down to the Rogue River Siskiyou National Forest to remove invasives such as Scotch broom, Himalayan blackberry, and vinca. For two weeks after, Red Crew worked with the Nature Conservancy closer to home in the Willamette Basin. Where they removed invasive plant species as part of the Nature Conservancy’s goal of protecting the federally threatened Fender’s blue butterfly, while continuing debris removal from the infamous ice storm that hit the area in January. Red Crew wrapped up April with work on the Biocycle Farm clearing around poplar saplings.
Oregon’s Urban and Community Forestry Crews were also hard at work this month. Brown crew spent time with Willamalane Parks and Recreation District continuing ice storm debris removal along the McKenzie River Valley.
Red crew worked at various fire stations in Eugene and Springfield, also doing storm clean-up.
Washington’s spring young adult orange crew’s first fortnight of April took place in and around the Puget Sound area. First, they assisted with the repair of trails on Tiger Mountain near North Bend, WA. They then went to remove invasive Scotch broom weeds in the geologically significant and mysterious Mima Mounds Natural Area Preserve, south of Olympia. The park’s great significance lies in its small hills made up of gravel, sand, and silt—and yet no one knows exactly how they formed. The crew finished up the month by working for two weeks with the Pure Water Partners, finishing Oregon’s blue crew’s invasives removal and habitat restoration from earlier in the month.
Yellow crew commenced the month by working two weeks near Vancouver, WA, for the WA Department of Natural Resources where they improved trails west of Silver Star Mountain. After this, they made a big move east to Coeur d’Alene, ID to improve trails with Idaho’s red crew, before heading to Entiat, WA to work with the Forest Service on watershed restoration.
Finally, Washington’s Leadership Development Program (LDP) commenced on April 13th. These five individuals, after six weeks of training and lessons under two diligent leaders, will become crew leaders this summer with Washington and Oregon Youth Camping Crews. Their first week of work was alongside Washington Urban and Community Forestry Crews to improve green spaces in and around Tacoma. From there they went north to the Walker Valley near Sedro-Wooley to continue trail work and the eradication of illegal roads.
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 on Canfield and then moved to the Chilco Mountain Trail. To close out April, Orange Crew returned to the Boise BLM and worked to finish a fence removal both crews had started in March.
Mia P. – Communications and Community Engagement Resource Assistant for the Region 6 Regional Office: “Putting my photography skills to use at the New Employee Orientation in Seaside, OR. I’ve been taking photos at all events since my class at Portland Community College!”
Anne L. – Park Museum Intern – Klondike Gold Rush National Historical Park: “Working on exhibit design from the museum library!”
A current intern and an alumnus of our internship program were spotlighted in the National Parks Services’ weekly email newsletter, “The Green & Gray Report.”
Emily T., on the left, is an NYC internship alumnus who did her internship at Minidoka National Historic Site in 2019 before transitioning to a park ranger position with NPS at Minidoka National Historic Site. Earlier this spring, she again transitioned her park ranger position to Manzanar National Historic Site.
Midori T., on the right, is a current intern in our program at Minidoka National Historic Site.
Abigal S.L. ended the National Parks Service Workforce Management Fellow Internship in April and published an article she wrote about participating in Yosemite Facelist 2023; a five-day event that gathers thousands of volunteers to do park clean-up through special projects.
