Northwest Youth Corps continued

and Wildlife Foundation, NYC can pay each crew member an educational sti- pend of up to $1,500 for their work on the trail.

Other Portland area trails projects

that NYC crews are currently tackling include building recreational infrastruc- ture in the Butler Creek Greenway in southwest Gresham (east Portland). Located along scenic Butler Creek, the soft-surfaced Butler Creek Greenway Trail connects with the Springwater Trail, 1.5 miles east to downtown Gresham, and is 1.7 miles west to the City of Portland’s 616-acre Powell Butte Nature Park.

joined by crews from Northwest Youth Corps, a nonprofit organization that has employed over 18,000 teens in educa- tional work projects across Oregon, Washington, Idaho, northern California, and Arizona since 1984. NYC’s crews use a combination of service, training, education, and employment to help youth and young adults protect, restore, and enhance public lands and waterways. Last year, funding by Northwest Youth Corps’ partners allowed 781 youth and young adults to earn a total of $775,956 (an average of $755-1,400 apiece) as they constructed or maintained 401 miles of multi-use trails, as well as other conser- vation outcomes on public lands. Northwest Youth Corps has

worked with the Salem BLM since 2000, and on the Sandy Ridge Trail System since 2009. At Sandy Ridge, the crew has completed trail maintenance, water bars and retaining walls, up slope and cross slope drainages, and built berms, retaining walls, and jumps for the mountain bikers who ride the rugged trails. Once finished, the Sandy Ridge Trail System will provide more than 15 miles of high quality single-track mountain biking experience. Thanks to “cost shares” with part- ners like BLM, which operates the Sandy Ridge Trail System, and grants from programs like the National Fish

28 FALL 2014 AmericanTrails.org

This summer, with funding from a Portland Metro “Nature in Neighborhoods” grant, local NYC par- ticipants are tackling invasive weeds in the Butler Creek Greenway; restoring several severely eroded stream banks; and enhancing habitat for coho salmon, cutthroat trout, and Oregon slender sal- amanders. Other long-term NYC proj- ects in the Portland area include trails for the Molalla River Recreation Area, the Table Rock Wilderness, and L.L. “Stub” Stewart State Park, one of Oregon’s newest. The Park’s trails pro- vide 1,888 acres of rolling hills, forest glades, gleaming streams, and views of

the Coastal Range for hikers, mountain bikers, and equestrians to explore. According to Tom Helmer, an NYC

project manager overseeing the Portland area crews, these types of trail-building activities empower youth through job skills, education, and plain hard work. “We’ve found that the outdoors is

the most effective way of delivering those teamwork skills,” he added. “Building a trail is a team effort. And, you can see the result right away.” At the end of each day, youth par- ticipate in an hour of hands-on educa- tion. Whether crewmembers return home each night, or camp (depending on the NYC program), all earn a pay- check, high school credit, and solid job reference for their successful participa- tion, as well as learn the importance of safe work habits, and basic job and communication skills. “We look at it as a jobs training

program. Paying these kids for their hard work shows them that they can get a job doing this, that there’s a future there,” Helmer said.

www.nwyouthcorps.org to learn more about projects and opportunities