Mission and Initiatives

The Conservation Corps provides hands-on environmental stewardship and service-learning opportunities to youth and young adults while accomplishing conservation, natural resource management and emergency response work.

Our goals are to help young people from diverse backgrounds become more connected to the environment, engaged in conservation, involved in the community and prepared for future employment. We realize our mission and accomplish our goals through initiatives for youth and young adults:

AmeriCorps opportunities for young adults, ages 18-25, including non-residential Field Crews in northern, central and southern Minnesota and central Iowa that engage young adults in natural resource, renewable energy and emergency response work from February to December. Home Energy Squads work year-round installing energy-saving measures such as weather-stripping and programmable thermostats in Twin Cities homes. Seasonal Trail Crews, working in the Superior and Chippewa National Forests, spike camp for four- to eight-day stretches while they improve backcountry trails.

AmeriCorps young adults are also Youth Leaders for two programs that engage teens, ages 15 to 18, in outdoor service-learning:

Conservation Corps Minnesota’s eight-week, residential Summer Youth Program unplugs teenagers from TVs, iPods and other modern intrusions for eight weeks over the summer. Youth begin at our St. Croix State Park base camp then spike camp through the region, working in crews of six youth and two AmeriCorps leaders each, as they restore natural resources.

Youth Outdoors, our newest program, engages Saint Paul teens during the school year in educational activities and service-learning projects afterschool and on Saturdays, 12 hours per week. Youth earn a stipend while revitalizing local neighborhoods and leading volunteers.

All Conservation Corps programs devote 20 percent of program time to technical-skills training, career-building skills such as resume writing and interviewing, and educational activities focused on environmental science and technology. Using scientific inquiry and experiential learning, the Conservation Corps helps young people learn more about the world around them and think critically about the impact of their personal choices on the environment.