GulfCorps

Creating jobs and training the next generation to restore the Gulf of Mexico.

By Bob Bendick, Director, Gulf of Mexico

Director of The Nature Conservancy in the Gulf of Mexico

Bob Bendick Director, Gulf of Mexico

More than three years ago, in January 2018, I had the opportunity to participate in the orientation and training for the first participants in GulfCorps—a three-year project led by The Nature Conservancy (in partnership with the Student Conservation Association and The Corps Network) to put young adults to work to help restore the Gulf of Mexico. GulfCorps is sponsored by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) using funds from the settlement with BP of civil penalties that resulted from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010.

Find program updates and more information about GulfCorps.

A GulfCorps Timeline

Two young men in kayaks looking at a crab.

Conservation Corps Members of the first coastal conservation corps crews in the field in coastal Mississippi. © Audra Melton/TNC

GulfCorps Members of the first coastal conservation corps crews in the field in coastal Mississippi. © Audra Melton/TNC

Two young men in hard hats holding shovels.

Conservation Corps Apalachicola conservation corps members at a training in the Florida panhandle. © Mike Dumas/TNC

Fire Training Veteran’s fire crew training in Florida. © Mike Dumas/TNC

Three young people seen from behind, walking in marsh.

GulfCorps in Florida Conservation Corps of the Forgotten Coast members Myesha Campbell, Jonathan James and Madison Cooper at the St. Joseph Bay State Buffer Preserve, Port St. Joe, Florida. © Andrew Kornylak

A purple sunset over a shoreline with palm trees.

Apalachicola Sunset, Apalachicola Bay, Florida. © Andrew Kornylak

Three young people in waders restoring a shoreline.

Mississippi GulfCorps Climb CDC Conservation Corps in Mississippi. © Mike Dumas/TNC

GulfCorps members digging holes on a sandy beach.

Planting Sea Oats GulfCorps members plant sea oats along the shore of Round Island, a few miles offshore of Pascagoula, Mississippi, to prevent erosion. © Matthew Borowick

A crew member in a hard hat holds up a seedling.

Texas GulfCorps A Conservation Corps member prepares to plant a mangrove on Shamrock Island in Texas. © R.J. Hinke/TNC

Six young people in waders smiling in the sun.

GulfCorps Crew A second year Student Conservation Association GulfCorps crew at the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge in Alabama. © TNC

A line of corps members in fire gear walks on a trail.

GulfCorps Alumni Prescribed Fire interns at The Nature Conservancy's North Shore Field Office near Abita Springs, Louisiana. This internship is through a program of the SCA. © Christina Wayne

Lauren Kissel stands in a tree-lined road.

Lauren Kissel, 28 at her home in Biloxi, Mississippi. © John Stanmeyer/NatGeo Creative

GulfCorps 2020 Pre-covid 2020 GulfCorps training at Shamrock Island, Texas © R.J. Hinke/TNC

One crew member passes a concrete block to another.

Oyster Castles Members of the Conservation Corps build oyster castles to reinforce the shoreline of Biloxi Bay, Mississippi. © John Stanmeyer

A young woman in a hard hat clears branches in forest.

GulfCorps in Alabama Members of the Conservation Corps clear brush within a forested area to prepare for a control burn that will bring new life to this forest. © John Stanmeyer

A large group of crew members in green shirts.

GulfCorps Orientation GulfCorps members at orientation in fall 2019 at Camp Beckwith in Alabama. © Mike Dumas/TNC

Conservation Corps Members of the first coastal conservation corps crews in the field in coastal Mississippi. © Audra Melton/TNC

2014

Pilot Conservation Corps Launches

The Nature Conservancy launched a pilot program in coastal Mississippi that tested the idea of recruiting local young adults from marginalized communities to conduct conservation and restoration work and monitoring in those communities for larger restoration efforts that will be funded through the Deepwater Horizon settlement funding.

GulfCorps Members of the first coastal conservation corps crews in the field in coastal Mississippi. © Audra Melton/TNC

The GulfCorps program was supported with the help of grants from Walton Family Foundation, The Nature Conservancy’s Gulf of Mexico Program, The Nature Conservancy in Mississippi, The Corps Network, and Climb

Conservation Corps Apalachicola conservation corps members at a training in the Florida panhandle. © Mike Dumas/TNC

2015

Conservation Corps Grows

The coastal conservation corps program grows with the addition of a veteran’s fire crew, and another conservation corps in Apalachicola, FL.

Fire Training Veteran’s fire crew training in Florida. © Mike Dumas/TNC

The Florida crews, and the continuation of the Mississippi crew, are supported by a $500,000 grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and a private supporter.

2017

GulfCorps is Born

GulfCorps is born. The Nature Conservancy, Student Conservation Association, and The Corps Network apply for a grant through National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association’s (NOAA) allocation of RESTORE funds.

Apalachicola Sunset, Apalachicola Bay, Florida. © Andrew Kornylak

The program receives $7 million over three years to launch conservation corps in all five Gulf states.

Mississippi GulfCorps Climb CDC Conservation Corps in Mississippi. © Mike Dumas/TNC

Jan 7, 2018

Day One of GulfCorps

Five crews of 10 people in each Gulf state tart Year 1 of the program. Each crew consists of two leaders and 8 crew members.

Planting Sea Oats GulfCorps members plant sea oats along the shore of Round Island, a few miles offshore of Pascagoula, Mississippi, to prevent erosion. © Matthew Borowick

June 30, 2018

First Season Success

GulfCorps’ first season comes to a close. By the end of the first six months, crew members will conserve and restore more than 632 acres, surpassing initial estimates by nearly 200 acres.

Texas GulfCorps A Conservation Corps member prepares to plant a mangrove on Shamrock Island in Texas. © R.J. Hinke/TNC

June 2019

GulfCorps Grows Exponentially

By the end of its second season, 91 people in 10 crews across the Gulf have conserved and restored more than 4,600 acres.

GulfCorps Crew A second year Student Conservation Association GulfCorps crew at the Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge in Alabama. © TNC

July 2019

After several years of successful impact, NOAA proposes to the RESTORE Council to continue the program as GulfCorps 2.0. The proposal is for a $15 million program over four years starting October 2021.

GulfCorps Alumni Prescribed Fire interns at The Nature Conservancy's North Shore Field Office near Abita Springs, Louisiana. This internship is through a program of the SCA. © Christina Wayne

February 2020

RESTORE Council Funding

GulfCorps program receives Gap funding from the RESTORE Council to bridge the time between the end of GulfCorps 1.0 and beginning of GulfCorps 2.0. The award is for $1.25 million for 11 crews of 5 people each for up to four months of work. An additional $425,000 can be awarded when the RESTORE Council officially approves the program in Fall 2020.

Lauren Kissel, 28 at her home in Biloxi, Mississippi. © John Stanmeyer/NatGeo Creative

March 2020

GulfCorps Goes Virtual

COVID-19 forces crews to transition to a virtual program. More than 80 members participate in GulfCorps-related work through the virtual program, which includes monitoring, training and professional development.

GulfCorps 2020 Pre-covid 2020 GulfCorps training at Shamrock Island, Texas © R.J. Hinke/TNC

May 2020

Some crews return to work in the field. Some crews end their term as planned.

Oyster Castles Members of the Conservation Corps build oyster castles to reinforce the shoreline of Biloxi Bay, Mississippi. © John Stanmeyer

June 2020

Initial GulfCorps Project Closes

The final season of the initial GulfCorps project comes to a close. Looking back, the impacts far exceeded expectations. Over three years, more than 10,000 acres were impacted by 300 GulfCorps members.

GulfCorps in Alabama Members of the Conservation Corps clear brush within a forested area to prepare for a control burn that will bring new life to this forest. © John Stanmeyer

July 2020

Beginning of Season 4

This is the gap year before the beginning of GulfCorps 2.0.

Fall 2021

GulfCorps 2.0

GulfCorps 2.0 to begin with 11 crews and approximately 90 members.

2014 2015 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

From the earliest discussions of how to organize and accomplish recovery from the devastating Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010, the Nature Conservancy has advocated for a conservation corps component in the Gulf restoration strategy. Why? Because while we are passionate about the science-based restoration of the Gulf's ecological resources, we also care deeply about the future of the people of the Gulf coast and about their longstanding relationship with the natural resources of the region.

More than in many places in America today, the quality and character of life in the communities along the Gulf of Mexico relies heavily on the health of the Gulf and its associated resources.

We at the Nature Conservancy understand the interdependence of healthy natural systems and the well-being of people. After advocating for the inclusion of funding for a conservation corps in the Gulf to be part of Gulf restoration, we joined together with the Student Conservation Association and The Corps Network to compete for the opportunity to establish and operate the GulfCorps Program because we believe that:

Well supervised and trained crews of young people can make real and lasting contributions to the restoration of the Gulf; they can accomplish fine-grained tasks that can't and won't be done by bulldozers and dredges.
If young people from local communities are recruited for this work, they and their friends and families will, through this experience, better understand the relationship of their lives and their natural surroundings and become lifelong stewards of their bays and estuaries.
Working together with others in the outdoors can provide the skills, discipline and resilience that can lead to successful careers whether in natural resource management or elsewhere.
We as an organization have an obligation to reach out to the diverse people who live along the Gulf to help young people of many backgrounds participate in shaping the future of the places where they and, ultimately, their children will live.

GulfCorps: Getting Started 2017-2020

$7M

award granted in 2017 to help create 300 coastal restoration jobs in 3 years.
5,313

acres conserved and restored in year one and two of GulfCorps (2018-2019).
91

people in 10 teams across the gulf by year 2 (2019).
80

GulfCorps members transition to virtual training programs due to COVID-19 in March 2020.

The Nature Conservancy cannot, however, accomplish these goals alone. Key to the success of this project is working cooperatively with community-based organizations in each state who recruit corps members from within their communities, supervise their activities on a day to day basis, and assist the corps members to gain new skills and confidence in their abilities. For GulfCorps, our on-the-ground partner organizations include: