Field News Recap- May 2025
Oregon:
young adult camping crews
Red Crew (YA 6) partnered with Pure Water Partners during their two active weeks in May to remove invasive species along properties bordering the McKenzie River. Their efforts included hand-pulling and tool-based removal using loppers and shovels. Multiple crews carried out this partnership over the course of the Spring session, which supported local landowners and advanced long-term ecological recovery in an area historically affected by wildfire.
Yellow Crew (YA 7) began May working alongside Blue Crew in Yacolt Burn State Forest. Partnering with Washington State Department of Natural Resources (WA DNR), they repaired trail tread, brushed overgrown corridors, and completed campground maintenance. For their final week, the crew traveled to a fence restoration project at The Nature Conservancy’s Juniper Hills Preserve. There, they built and repaired fencing, maintained elk and deer enclosures, and removed outdated barriers to help restore wildlife movement.
Orange Crew (YA 8) stayed in Medford, continuing their forest thinning projects as part of our Community Wildfire Protection Corps. Equipped with chainsaws and a wood chipper, they managed excess vegetation for rural homeowners in need of support. This work supports wildfire mitigation efforts and prepares rural communities for the summer fire season.
Blue Crew (YA 9) began May in Yacolt Burn State Forest alongside Yellow Crew. There, they performed tread maintenance and trail brushing in partnership with WA DNR.
Washington:
In May, we celebrated a standout project that recently made the news on Fox 13 Seattle: Our collaborative trail restoration effort on Tiger Mountain with the Washington Department of Natural Resources.
young adult crews
Orange Crew (YA 10) spent May’s active weeks in the forest near Spade Lake. Their project with Washington State Department of Natural Resources (WA DNR) involved constructing footbridges, digging abutments, and brushing overgrown trails on the Boulder-Greider Mainline.
Yellow Crew (YA 11) focused their work in the Walker Valley ORV Area. There, they maintained approximately 2.5 miles of multi-use recreation trails, including Judy’s Grade, Langley’s Legacy, and Ben’s Revenge. The crew used pick-mattocks and shovels to repair tread and improve water drainage.
White Crew (YA 12) worked on trail development and maintenance near Lyre River Campground in WA DNR’s Olympic Region. Their work included removing excess vegetation and building new tread three-quarters of a mile from the nearest access point.
Idaho Conservation Corps:
young adult camping crews
Orange Crew (YA 13) and Red Crew (YA 14) both spent their active weeks in May at Douglas Falls in northeast Washington, partnering with Washington State Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to continue a project from the previous week. The crews built three-rail wood fencing, installed wire fencing, and completed general trail maintenance to support safe recreation and protect adjacent natural resources.
Internship Programs: Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument
Macie: Cultural Resources Intern
Meet Macie!
This summer, Cultural Resources AmeriCorps Member Macie is supporting collections management and fossil preservation at Hagerman Fossil Beds in Idaho. She is pictured here holding a rare set of fossils from Paenemarmota barbouri, an extinct “giant ground squirrel” species that lived 3–4 million years ago. These animals were the largest known members of the squirrel family.
Macie’s primary focus is rehousing and reorganizing hundreds of microfossil specimens, such as fish scales and rodent teeth. This work is part of a larger effort to care for the park’s paleontology collections, improve storage systems, and ensure long-term access for researchers and staff. So far, she’s relocated over 500 microfossil vials to their proper homes.
Macie’s internship duties include training in museum collections care, digitization, and cultural resource preservation.
Training and Graduations:
May was a transitional month for Northwest Youth Corps, bridging the wrap-up of spring programs with the early stages of summer preparation. Spring crews closed out their sessions, staff trainings got underway, and Idaho launched the first youth crews of the season.
All Young Adult (YA) Camping crews in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho wrapped up their spring sessions with graduation ceremonies held May 16th in each state’s headquarters. In Oregon, our Community Wildfire Protection Corps also celebrated program completions across multiple tracks: Strike Crews graduated at NYC’s Eugene campus May 2nd, Hitch Crews stayed in Pendleton for their graduation May 8th, and the Community Crew that combined with our Oregon Urban and Community Forestry crews graduated May 9th.
Woodsboss Training was held May 9th through 16th in preparation for the summer field season at Puma Campground in the Willamette National Forest. YA Leader Training took place from May 21st to June 1st, with 9 Crew Leads from our three states in the Boise National Forest. Various YA Member Training sessions followed, covering saw use and trail work.
In preparation for Idaho’s YCC launch on May 31st, these Leaders were trained May 17-28 on Buckhorn Creek Trailhead in the Payette National Forest before leading our first Youth Crews of 2025.