Save-the-CCC
Save-the-CCC
The Times-Standard Eureka Times Standard
Locals rally behind Conservation Corps
by John Driscoll and Thadeus Greenson January 15, 2009
The governor's suggested dismantling of the California Conservation Corps has drawn out supporters to
vouch for its preservation -- but the administration is holding that it's just too expensive.
The corps is known for its trail building, wildfire suppression support and efforts to rehabilitate damaged
salmon habitat. It's often seen as a key nudge for kids teetering between trouble and productivity.
But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sees the CCC's cost to the state's general fund as too high to justify with a
projected $42 billion deficit.
Those who have worked with the CCCs on the North Coast, however, are shocked at the proposal and worried
that the workforce couldn't be replaced.
The move would be “disastrous” and “foolish,” said Chris Turner, Redwood Community Action Agency Natural
Resources Service project coordinator. A former CCC member, Turner said that the young people who work
so hard at their tasks would be the hardest hit. Programs and projects that use the CCC would be terribly
undercut by such a decision, he said.
”It would be a sad day in California state history,” Turner said.
The corps hires young adults 18 to 25 years old, and was modeled after Franklin Delano Roosevelt's
Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps. The state funds the corps to the tune of $34 million a year; the
corps raises another $24 million. That breaks down to about $68,000 a year for each of the 1,300 corps
members when administration of the program is considered, said Sandy Cooney, spokesman for the state
Natural Resources Agency.
”For a workforce, that's a pretty expensive operation,” Cooney said.
Compare the costs to that of a park ranger, which starts at about $43,000 a year, Cooney said, not including
benefits. Cooney also said that the corps was initially conceived to become self-sufficient over time -- which it
has not been able to do -- and it has also been focusing less on the education and training elements of its
mission.
The nonprofit CCC Foundation challenges that perception. It holds that all CCC members advance their
education during their stint, and that 4,000 of them worked to complete their high school diplomas in the past
three years.
Is the 33-year-old CCC replaceable? Local Red Cross Director of Community Education and Development Linda
Nellist said the Red Cross trains CCC members in disaster preparedness and first aid.
She said the corps is a key part of the group of response agencies available during emergencies. But Nellist
said CCC members are also important individually. A loss of so many trained individuals would have a
dramatic effect on the community, she said.
”These folks aren't just sitting in an office and having their hours and days cut,” Nellist said. “They're out in the
community actively working as a group, and as good Samaritans.”
The Schwarzenegger administration has proposed significantly increasing funding to some locally run corps
programs, about 12 of them scattered in cities around the state, which could put them out of range of many
rural areas.
Asked if he would be able to replace the available labor pool if the CCC were to be cut, Humboldt County
Office of Emergency Services Program Coordinator Dan Larkin said he didn't know. There are CCC programs
based out of Fortuna and McKinleyville.
”I'm not hopeful, because we're pretty limited up here in what we have available,” Larkin said. “Any time you
have an asset in place versus one a long ways away, it's much easier to access the local one when you need
it.”
The corps has developed a reputation for doing extremely hard work in terrible conditions -- reflected in its
motto, “Hard work, low pay, miserable conditions, and more.” Finding a die-hard workforce willing and able
to, say, manually yank invasive European beach grass from sand dunes, or hike in daily to bust rock to make
trails, wouldn't be easy, said U.S. Bureau of Land Management Arcata Field Manager Lynda Roush. The CCC is
a source of maintenance that the agency doesn't have, she said.
”We would never be able to afford that kind of labor force,” Roush said. “For us on the North Coast, that would
be a significant loss and we would have to regroup.”
John Driscoll can be reached at 441-0504 or jdriscoll@times-standard.com. Thadeus Greenson can be
reached at 441-0509 or tgreenson@times-standard.com.
Locals rally behind Conservation Corps
by John Driscoll and Thadeus Greenson January 15, 2009
The governor's suggested dismantling of the California Conservation Corps has drawn out supporters to
vouch for its preservation -- but the administration is holding that it's just too expensive.
The corps is known for its trail building, wildfire suppression support and efforts to rehabilitate damaged
salmon habitat. It's often seen as a key nudge for kids teetering between trouble and productivity.
But Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger sees the CCC's cost to the state's general fund as too high to justify with a
projected $42 billion deficit.
Those who have worked with the CCCs on the North Coast, however, are shocked at the proposal and worried
that the workforce couldn't be replaced.
The move would be “disastrous” and “foolish,” said Chris Turner, Redwood Community Action Agency Natural
Resources Service project coordinator. A former CCC member, Turner said that the young people who work
so hard at their tasks would be the hardest hit. Programs and projects that use the CCC would be terribly
undercut by such a decision, he said.
”It would be a sad day in California state history,” Turner said.
The corps hires young adults 18 to 25 years old, and was modeled after Franklin Delano Roosevelt's
Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps. The state funds the corps to the tune of $34 million a year; the
corps raises another $24 million. That breaks down to about $68,000 a year for each of the 1,300 corps
members when administration of the program is considered, said Sandy Cooney, spokesman for the state
Natural Resources Agency.
”For a workforce, that's a pretty expensive operation,” Cooney said.
Compare the costs to that of a park ranger, which starts at about $43,000 a year, Cooney said, not including
benefits. Cooney also said that the corps was initially conceived to become self-sufficient over time -- which it
has not been able to do -- and it has also been focusing less on the education and training elements of its
mission.
The nonprofit CCC Foundation challenges that perception. It holds that all CCC members advance their
education during their stint, and that 4,000 of them worked to complete their high school diplomas in the past
three years.
Is the 33-year-old CCC replaceable? Local Red Cross Director of Community Education and Development Linda
Nellist said the Red Cross trains CCC members in disaster preparedness and first aid.
She said the corps is a key part of the group of response agencies available during emergencies. But Nellist
said CCC members are also important individually. A loss of so many trained individuals would have a
dramatic effect on the community, she said.
”These folks aren't just sitting in an office and having their hours and days cut,” Nellist said. “They're out in the
community actively working as a group, and as good Samaritans.”
The Schwarzenegger administration has proposed significantly increasing funding to some locally run corps
programs, about 12 of them scattered in cities around the state, which could put them out of range of many
rural areas.
Asked if he would be able to replace the available labor pool if the CCC were to be cut, Humboldt County
Office of Emergency Services Program Coordinator Dan Larkin said he didn't know. There are CCC programs
based out of Fortuna and McKinleyville.
”I'm not hopeful, because we're pretty limited up here in what we have available,” Larkin said. “Any time you
have an asset in place versus one a long ways away, it's much easier to access the local one when you need
it.”
The corps has developed a reputation for doing extremely hard work in terrible conditions -- reflected in its
motto, “Hard work, low pay, miserable conditions, and more.” Finding a die-hard workforce willing and able
to, say, manually yank invasive European beach grass from sand dunes, or hike in daily to bust rock to make
trails, wouldn't be easy, said U.S. Bureau of Land Management Arcata Field Manager Lynda Roush. The CCC is
a source of maintenance that the agency doesn't have, she said.
”We would never be able to afford that kind of labor force,” Roush said. “For us on the North Coast, that would
be a significant loss and we would have to regroup.”
John Driscoll can be reached at 441-0504 or jdriscoll@times-standard.com. Thadeus Greenson can be
reached at 441-0509 or tgreenson@times-standard.com.
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Friends of the
Save-the-CCC
Campaign
-- Partial List --
Save-the-CCC
Campaign
-- Partial List --
- Paul Carrillo - Chair, Friends of
CCC - John Van de Kamp, Former
Attorney General, State of CA - Herb Perry -Professor Emeritus
Economics,CSUS & member of
Civilian Conservation Corps - Bruce Saito -Executive Director
Los Angeles Conservation Corps
& President o California
Association of Local Corps - Ian Kim, Director Green Collar
Campaign of Ella Baker Center
for Human Rights - Brian Stark - Director, Land
Conservancy of San Luis Obispo - Barbara O'connor, Ph.D., Dir. of
Institute of Study of Politics &
Media, CSUS - Bud Sheble - Former Director of
the California Conservation
Corps Gov. Dukemejian - Tom Mertens, Board of Directors,
League to Save Lake Tahoe - Susie Lange, Deputy
Superintendent Department of
Education - Rick Hawley, Executive Director
– Green Space Cambria Land
Trust - Bill Wilson, Former Chairman of
the Board, Tahoe-Baikal Institute - Robert L. (Griff) Griffiths, Co-
Founder, National Association of
Civilian Conservation Corps
Alumni - Robert Burkhardt - Head of
School, Eagle Rock School &
former Chief Deputy CCC