On Monday of this week, our second Americorps NCCC (Cedar 3) crew arrived in Coon Rapids, ready and rearing to go! The team of ten 18-24 year old crew members will be here aiding our Conservation and Land Stewardship programs until December 15, helping with prescribed fires and restoring 25 acres of oak savanna within WRC’s oak savanna priority area, on the Long Creek Ridge.
Top row: Abdul Ahmed, Anne Rettof, Zach Belcastro, Eric Balza, Tyler Brown, Leigh Anne Daigle, Laura Purves, Stephanie Gianelli, WRC's Matt Reiling Bottom row: Jessica Beckwith, June Carlson, WRC's Elizabeth Hill
The mission of AmeriCorps NCCC is to strengthen communities and develop leaders through direct, team-based national and community service. In partnership with non-profits like Whiterock Conservancy, as well as secular and faith based organizations, local municipalities, state governments, federal government, national or state parks, Indian Tribes and schools, members complete service projects. Drawn from the successful models of the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s and the U.S. military, AmeriCorps NCCC is built on the belief that civic responsibility is an inherent duty of all citizens and that national service programs work effectively with local communities to address pressing needs. Americorps NCCC opened a new headquarters in Vinton, Iowa, in 2008, and has sent Whiterock Conservancy, along with other Iowa organizations, many crews of hard-working members.
Together with Matt Reiling, WRC’s Grounds Manager, I’ve been out with the crew running a chainsaw for the last few days, and we’ve been moving fast! The oak savanna restoration project that we’re focusing on with the Americorps NCCC crew consists of cutting down invasive trees and shrubs in order to open up the canopy for oak savanna regeneration. The 25 acres that we complete with the crew is being matched with 75 acres funded by the Landowner Incentive Program, a private lands restoration cost-share program offered by the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. We’ve hired a contractor, Michael Anderson and his crew of the Iowa Natural Resource Corporation, to complete the 75 acres restoration, and they are hard at work right now.
We started off the week with Cedar 3 by introducing them to the land and WRC’s staff members, and then we got to work. Matt and I have been cutting down trees while the crew members drag the logs and branches and put them in piles. While cutting and piling may not sound like too much fun, the crew has an amazing sense of humor and love to laugh while they work–the only way have fun while working this hard! We’ve also been making time for Ecology Moments every now and then–that’s when I turn off the chainsaw and answer questions about the landscape and the goings-on in the oak savanna! While it is imperative that we get all of the restoration work done, educating the crew members about Iowa’s ecology is just as important, and makes the project more rich and interesting for all of us.
This 100-acre project is the most ambitious oak savanna restoration project that WRC has attempted thus far, and we are really excited to see the results within the next month! Without assistance from the Landowner Incentive Program and the fabulous Americorps NCCC crew, this large project would be impossible for Whiterock Conservancy, and we are ever so thankful for all of the help! Most importantly, so is the land.
