Current Crew Status Update
Northwest Youth Corps – Updates available during Youth sessions
A note about managing the risk of wildfires and smoke
As is normal for this time of year, we are in the midst of managing our programs in a challenging wildfire environment, and we of course anticipate the concern that you might feel for your loved ones who are in the field with Northwest Youth Corps/Idaho Conservation Corps.
We take the threat of wildland fire and hazardous fire smoke extremely seriously in planning our crew operations. Although forest fires have become much more prevalent in the news over the last decade, managing crew safety in terms of fire and smoke has been a key risk management endeavor at Northwest Youth Corps for every year of our 40 year history. The safety of our members and field staff is our paramount priority, and we work closely with our project partners to ensure that our crews and interns are never in harm’s way.
Our field staff work very closely with federal and state land management agencies to help monitor fire activity in the surrounding areas. Additionally, we have developed a decision-making rubric regarding wildfire smoke (which aligns with Oregon OSHA’s rules) for our onsite leaders to use independently that provides direction and guidance in the presence of wildfire smoke. We also provide all crews with appropriate personal protective equipment (PPE), which include N95 masks in the event that local air quality index (AQI) reaches unhealthy levels (though our intention is that they will not remain anywhere for very long that might require an extended period wearing them). MOST IMPORTANTLY, we relocate any crews working in proximity to active fires or that are impacted by unhealthy air quality including, if necessary, evacuating the crew completely from the field.
Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions or concerns.
