The Youth Conservation Corps is a summer employment program for young men and women ages 15 through 18, who work, learn and earn together for eight weeks on projects that help conserve the natural resources of the U.S.

Alumni will tell you it was one of the best summers they had working outdoors all day, making new friends and learning so much more about this area than they ever would have without this experience.

Over 90% of Mineral County is public land and the Lolo Forest is a gigantic chunk of that property. YCC work projects vary depending on location and current needs of the U.S. Forest Service.

Projects may include constructing trails, building campground facilities, planting trees, collecting litter, clearing streams, improving wildlife habitat, building fences, office work, and many other worthwhile tasks. There is hard physical work involved in most tasks, and crews work out in the woods away from towns.

That being said, one of the primary concerns of the crew leaders and the staff is safety. Enrollees receive instructions on how to work safely and the safe way to handle tools. Personal protective equipment such as safety goggles, gloves, and hard hats are provided and worn when required by the work activity.

There is no doubt that by the end of the summer, participants will have completed work that was badly needed on public lands and have an understanding and appreciation of the nation's natural environment and heritage. Plus they will have had gainful employment of all social, economic, ethnic, and racial backgrounds. All of these are objectives of the YCC through this program.

Besides developing personal accountability, teamwork responsibility and appreciation of our amazing back-door recreation opportunities, students will be paid $15 per hour for 40 hours per week. That seems to be the immediate award for most teenagers while the other perks will go into building their character and creating great memories for years later. If a student has even an inkling of pursuing wildlife biology, forestry or fisheries, this is similar to a paid internship.

There are certain requirements to be considered for a position that are outlined in the application but nothing unusual that another employer wouldn’t request. The biggies are to be able to work the full eight weeks uninterrupted, have proper clothing for outdoor work, a willingness to work outside preforming strenuous labor at times and have, or are in the process of obtaining a social security number.

Applications are available through Heather Berman, Lolo National Forest District, P.O. Box 460 Superior, MT 59872. Or heather.berman@usda.gov.

Applications must be postmarked by March 11 with the first day on the job being Monday, June 6 and the last day Friday, July 29. Youth are chosen to participate in the program for each site by a random selection process with a reasonable commuting distance taken into consideration.