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Working Together for Nature

AmeriCorps Conservation Team © TNC
AmeriCorps Conservation Team members after a long day in the
field at Dunstan Homestead Preserve, MIddle Fork John Day River.
© TNC

Through dedicated teamwork, AmeriCorps members help increase crucial conservation action across Oregon

After college, Kyle Strauss moved to the one corner of the country he hadn't yet been: Oregon. Lured by landscapes, he joined AmeriCorps, a national program that facilitates a year of service. Working with the Northwest Service Academy and The Nature Conservancy, Strauss planted trees and removed invasive species.

Now Strauss is program coordinator for the Conservancy's AmeriCorps Conservation Team, a 12-member crew. Oregon is the first Conservancy chapter to manage its own AmeriCorps team and, according to Strauss, the team has been remarkably successful in its first year.

"Having been an AmeriCorps member and now helping train them really is a full circle," Strauss said. "I know how much we can accomplish with the right people, while also giving important opportunities for people to learn, and to improve, skills."

Crisscrossing the state, the members spent the last year under the tutelage of conservation staff advancing field research, restoring habitats and engaging local communities. Providing over 20,000 hours of service, they removed invasive plants, gathered scientific data, led volunteer and student work parties and helped with prescribed burns.

Vincent Jansen, an AmeriCorps member in northeast Oregon, signed on primarily for the opportunity to work with prescribed fire. He and others earned 'red card' certification, a national qualification to assist with controlled burns, and participated in ecological burns at Kingston Prairie, Sycan Marsh and other preserves.

At Sycan Marsh in October, he carried a drip torch through the forest for eight hours a day and just watched it burn behind him. "It's the kind of thing that, as a kid, you never thought you'd be doing," he said.

As part of a four-person roving crew, Jansen hit the road during field season, racking up over 9,000 miles on the old Mazda pickup. "It's great to get paid to travel and burn," he said. "And, really, to learn so much about different preserves, management styles and ecosystems."

The first year crew has wrapped up their work, but Strauss has already interviewed and hired this year's team. Jansen, however, isn't bothered much by the "what's next?" question -- he signed up for another year.