Lewis Creek Watershed Association, 81 Mountain Brook Rd, Hinesburg, VT 05461, US

HistoryThe Vermont Youth Conservation Corps was established in 1985 by the Vermont State Legislature with a one-dollar appropriation. Thomas Hark, a former Camp Director with the Minnesota Conservation Corps, was hired to direct this new program. Under Thomas' vision, the program was housed in the Vermont Department of Forests, Parks, and Recreation and focused on providing young people with valuable natural resource training and education and on accomplishing high priority conservation work in Vermont's parks, natural areas, and recreation lands. Since 1985, the VYCC has served young people from every county and nearly every town in Vermont and has completed several million dollars worth of priority conservation work. The Corps has also established partnerships with agencies and organizations, such as the Vermont Dept. of Forests, Parks, and Recreation, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Environmental Protection Agency, National Park Service, and GMC.SpecialtiesThe Vermont Youth Conservation Corps is a non-profit youth, leadership, service, conservation, and education organization that instills in individuals the values of personal responsibility, hard work, education, and respect for the environment. This is accomplished by using conservation projects as the vehicle for learning in an intense environment. Each year, the VYCC hires young people ages 16-24 who work and study together under adult leadership to complete high-priority conservation projects such as state park management, trail maintenance, and back country construction. Through the performance of this important work, young people expand their job and leadership skills and develop personal values, ethics, and an awareness of social, political, and environmental issues. The VYCC Mission: To teach individuals to take personal responsibility for all their actions.