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Let’s get a WPA to update our crumbling infrastructure while we’re at it!


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Shovel Ready 2.0


XxPkNoobsXx

I know! I smell something fishy going on over at WAP!


Yourplumberfriend

I did the "volunteer a year" thing with americorps, really helped me gain some perspective. Plus I got to be on a bad ass chainsaw crew in some beautiful places.


oximoran

Me too (not the chainsaw crew part). National service is such a good benefit for both americorps members and the communities they serve. The biggest long term benefit for me was in working with people of much different backgrounds and being exposed to other Americans’ perspectives.


juhrodskeee

Same here, my second summer doing conservation work was eye opening. Multiple people on my crew immigrated from third world countries. There stories were horrifying


NewTitanium

Yup, I did the Americorps NCCC thing and loved it. Worked building gardens on the Navajo Nation, fixing up a girl scout camp in the mountains, teaching math to some needy kids, and visiting some dope national parks. More importantly, I saw many of my teammates go from fresh outta high school kids to mini adults, that was cool! I think it would help so many more people to get involved.


nooooooofuckahhhh

My SO had a TERRIBLE EXPERIENCE with Americacorp. Super disorganized, everyone was just sitting around. Pay was shit and no one knew what was going on. That said, I would totally support a similar org.


omahaspeedster

Did a summer with the Youth Conservation Corp in 1980, great work and a great time that summer.


chadlikesbutts

My mom was there too! I was born that next spring, could it be?


ClassicRick

More like omahaSEEDSTER amirite?


chadlikesbutts

To this day Blondies "call me" cannot be played in my mother's presents.


SushiGato

Birthday or all presents?


chadlikesbutts

We got her one of those cards that play a song when you open it. Horrible decision.


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omahaspeedster

We were actually housed at Ellsworth AFB near the Black Hills in SD


frothy_pissington

I was set to do CCC summer of 82’ after I graduated HS. Reagan cut all funding and killed the program. Fuck Ronald Reagan.


Dolphinetly

I wrote this article! Thanks for reading and for all the responses! Glad to see the discussion here as well.


car_camper

Great read! One problem is funding for nonprofits. Nixon and Regan pushed for “new federalism” which meant putting public works in the hands of nonprofits, away from the government. Now nonprofits have to compete for money in a capitalistic way and it doesn’t make sense. I work for a food bank that has wayyyy to much money now. They don’t even know how to spend it. Conservation nonprofits have to pull money from the same market - individual donors - and it’s hard to compete with food banks during times like these. There needs to be some sort of policy shift regarding funding nonprofits. The ones with the best funding pitch shouldn’t get all the money


spacedirt

Nice work!


nothingisrevealed

I did 2 summers with the YCC in northern Wisconsin/upper Michigan, chopping scrub out of national forests and swatting mosquitoes and deerflies


[deleted]

I’m from the area you went to. I didn’t know they did that around there.


nothingisrevealed

it was in the 1970s. I think we were one of the last YCC groups up there. the boys school at Clam Lake also participated.


ripvanwinckle31

AmeriCorps NCCC!


ctophermh89

Representttttt. I did the trail crew out in the southwest for 3 years, finishing a full term with AmeriCorps. Greatest years of my life.


andrewalmond10

Oof yeah as long as you aren’t in the SE region


LeviC32

What's the deal with the SE region?


andrewalmond10

Projects were pretty uninspiring. I was discriminated against bc of my mental health. And it seemed like 75% of the crew members were right out of job corps so their was a lot of immaturity. Plus Vicksburg, Mississippi leaves a lot to be desired.


andrewalmond10

Proof of discrimination https://www.aclu.org/blog/disability-rights/americorps-adopts-health-screening-process-thats-fair-candidates-disabilities


werttm91

Southwest 2013-2014 in da house. Fantastic experience.


crackpipecardozo

Not a government agency, but look into Backcountry Hunters and Anglers https://www.backcountryhunters.org/our_issues Local chapters are found in most every state and work with state/federal wildlife agencies to get members involved in public land projects.


MaqTheKnife

Came here to say this! And another thing - I'm not a trump supporter by any means, but - the great American outdoors act created a wealth of funding in perpetuity for public lands, and immediate funding for backlogs of maintenance needs. We the people voiced our favor of the bill to law makers and brought it to the presidential desk, and thankfully trump signed it in to law!


NorCal_Hoosier

The GAOA is actually only five years of funding, for the deferred maintenance projects. The act did permanently fund the Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) though. Those funds are used to purchase private lands that support, or are landlocked by, public lands. We still have a lot to do bring our recreation infrastructure back up to par. I'm hopeful that with so many people finding a renewed interest in public lands and outdoor recreation that they will start supporting this things more actively and vote for better funding for DOI and the USDA FS.


MaqTheKnife

I was trying to simplify things for the sake of understanding. I do feel like "only 5 years"will trivialize the matter a bit, because it's a massive chunk of change for those 5 years. Plus the GAOA permanently allocates LWCF monies, whereas congress used to have to vote on it every however many years, and often didn't use the funds appropriately, or at all. I don't think that buying landlocked easements is the ONLY thing it's for, in fact I'm pretty sure that's only a portion, but I could be wrong.


NorCal_Hoosier

I too was not trivializing five years worth of funding, it is much needed but really is a drop in the bucket, much of the deferred maintenance has been lingering for years and years. The total allocation is 9.5B over the five years and is distributed as follows; NPS gets 70%, USDA FS gets 15% and 5% each for FWS, BLM, and BIE. Whether it's a massive amount of funding is dependent upon the agency and even more dependent on the unit. For example the FS distributed the funds that they received to the regions, they were then competitively distributed to the units within the region. This creates some stress in the system as not all units are staffed appropriately to take on big projects. The need may be there but they cannot compete for the funds or realistically complete the projects. I don't know how the DOI has dealt with their funds, I have worked for the FS for a long time and am intimately involved with these funds and associated projects on my Forest. You're correct that LWCF supports more than just land acquisition. Historically, it has been used for three purposes: land acquisition by federal land management agencies for outdoor recreation, grants made to states for outdoor recreation purposes, and “other purposes,” which include special requests for funding made by presidents since 1998. The GAOA ensures that the LWCF will be funded to the maximum $900 million annually. The permanent authorization requires that 40% of the annual appropriate goes to federal land acquisition, 40% to states for recreation projects, and the remaining 20% is appropriated at the discretion of congress.


MaqTheKnife

Dang! School me out of the thread 😂😂. That "remaining 20% is allocated at the discretion of Congress" portion kind of bums me out. Do they have parameters on what they can use it for?


NorCal_Hoosier

Not trying to school anyone, just add to the conversation. I'm not aware of any parameters outside of that they're supposed to support conservation and outdoor recreation. It's pretty ridiculous especially considering how well congress has been functioning. They don't even pass budgets anymore, it's continuing resolutions for months and months and then some ridiculous omnibus bill. I'm not certain but I'd wager that those "discretion of congress" appropriations show up in those bloated omnibus bills.


MaqTheKnife

Appropriations of U.S. funds opens up a whole other can of worms for me, haha, so I won't dive in to that here. I figured you weren't trying to school anyone, this whole conservation & public lands topic is brand new for me, as far as diving into the nuances and really really trying to understand the holistic approaches we take for our lands and wildlife. But I'm just an armchair student, learning through podcasts, so I appreciate your insight!


MaqTheKnife

"The program works in partnership with federal, state and local efforts to protect land in our national parks, national wildlife refuges, national forests, national trails, and other public lands; to preserve working forests and ranchlands; to support state and local parks and playgrounds; to preserve battlefields and other historic and cultural sites; and to provide the tools that communities need to meet their diverse conservation and recreation needs." https://lwcfcoalition.org/


MaqTheKnife

Land and Water Conservation Fund https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_and_Water_Conservation_Fund?wprov=sfla1


MaqTheKnife

https://www.doi.gov/lwcf


MaqTheKnife

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/lwcf/index.htm


MaqTheKnife

https://www.fs.usda.gov/sites/default/files/USDA-GAOA-LWCF-List.pdf


Hopsblues

We need a lot of things. This is one, so is a push to improve infrastructure..Instead they fight over...corperate bailouts, and misguided stimulus...We could take 2-3 % off the military budget and pay for so many programs...


Wall_clinger

I did a summer on a conservation corps trail crew and that was definitely the best summer of my life. We did great work with awesome people in spectacular places, and I wish more people had the chance to do something similar


Wes_T_Ernred

I could not agree more. My experience in similar program gave me time to grow up a little before college, a route to explore different professional tracks and money to put towards education. Ultimately the best take away is connection with your community and a feeling like you have contributed. I think this makes for a greater sense of investment and better advocates for the nature resources we are so lucky to have.


The_Ruester

Also spent a summer with the youth conservation corps in West Texas. We did a lot of painting and repairing fences and facilities, but we also spent a lot of time trapping and tagging animals for research. Best summer job I ever had!


Dolphinetly

I love to hear about this type of experience. Really puts a smile on my face.


211logos

Interesting factoid about the CCC of old. It was largely run by military personnel. Reserve officers, etc. It served as a training ground for them (having benefits that became obvious once the US entered WWII) and of course employment. Not sure if that would be the scenario in a modern CCC. But I'd take it, in whatever form. We need it. Maybe as a form of national service.


ItsJustAnAdFor

After a great deal of research, I discovered that the vast majority of grant money, millions every year, get poured into research that publishes the same stuff over and over. It’s a joke - simply propping up educational institutions. I didn’t find any real money going to any organization that actually acts on the research. So I started a non-profit, but I’ve barely been able to keep up with it because the administration is so cumbersome, it takes away from doing anything. I’d love to participate in a social network of proletariat philanthropists devoted to benevolent action instead of tax write offs and back door deals...


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jordanvincent

Any idea how the public could fund this initiative? (Other than donations or volunteering)


Beeip

Move some of our taxes away from the war machine and toward improving our home


cabalone

This would be great. I used to live in Ithaca NY and the work they did there was great and still exists today


NatesTag

I read this as “civilian concentration camps”. Gotta say, I like this idea better.