YCC Commission Chair Amanda Getchell Stevenson

EMNRD News:

The New Mexico Youth Conservation Corps Commission (NMYCCC) announces funding for 40 youth conservation and community programs in 2023.

Awards totaling $4.3 million will be distributed to a variety of urban and rural entities in nineteen counties. Each program is locally based, employing crews of at least five youth. Altogether, about 650 New Mexico youth ages 14-25 will be hired in the areas where they live.

The program is funded by governmental gross receipt taxes. 

“The Commission is delighted to approve funding for nearly all the proposals submitted,” YCC Commission Chair Amanda Getchell Stevenson said. “Youth sign up for the paycheck but get hooked by the YCC experience. They do projects with their peers they can be proud of their entire lives.”

Projects this year involve post-fire restoration in northern New Mexico and the Ruidoso area; design and installation of sculptures in Albuquerque, and murals in Silver City; inventory and mapping of acequias and dams; planning trails and events for outdoor recreation in Hidalgo County; improving trails in Lincoln, Otero, Bernalillo, and Los Alamos counties; improving forest, rangelands, and recreational areas in five national forests; monitoring ecological indicators in a variety of habitats; and building shade structures at the Punkin Chunkin field in Estancia.  

Each awardee must provide training that expands on the work experience, including job, career and life skills, natural and cultural knowledge and further education opportunities. Corps members that return to a YCC project may be eligible for a $1,500 further education voucher or a $500 additional cash compensation. 

“It’s the training component that makes a YCC program stand out,” YCC Executive Director Sarah Wood said. “Corps members may learn a skill that opens a whole new world to them.”

The details of each 2023 award recipient are listed below, and may also be found here.

Rural projects:

• Alamo Navajo School Board, $109.111.38. Restore walkways and a hogan and construct a Veteran’s Memorial.
• Conservation Legacy/Ancestral Lands – Acoma, $64,414.09. Learn the methods and traditions of the Acoma Pueblo Traditional Farm Corps, including traditional cooking, farming, and seed banking. 
• Forest Stewards Guild, Summer Project, $174,842.39. Carry out forest and rangeland projects and monitoring on Mt.Taylor, Coyote, Las Vegas/Pecos, & Mountainair Ranger Districts…