The Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest along with Montana Conservation Corps is piloting a new program to get youth boots on the ground doing conservation work while being exposed to careers in natural resources.
The program, called Helena Youth Corps, is a new offering from MCC specifically tailored to 17- to 18-year-old students at high school graduating level but still constrained by public school scheduling.Â
This program starts after most public schools take summer break and ends before most fall semesters begin. In comparison, the 18- to 24-year-old adult crew starts the season in May, too early for students just graduating or going into their senior year.Â
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Helena Youth Corps member Casey Barber, 17, helps rehabilitate a bridge over Trout Creek on the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest on July 9.
Rory Glueckert, Recreation Program manager for the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest, is the founder of the young group. His aim was to capture the attention of teens at the point in their lives they are planning for a career.
“It’s to capture those individuals that are just coming out of high school or right into college and to get them interested in natural resources,” Glueckert said. “It’s hard in 2024 to get young folks to get excited about natural resources. So this is a really good opportunity to get people in the woods working hard, showing them life experiences that are all transferable in the workforce when they get out.”
So far it has worked for Youth Corps member Aiden Brunner-Ferrie, 18, of Helena.
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