[House Hearing, 111 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
H.R. 1612, PUBLIC LANDS SERVICE CORPS ACT OF 2009
=======================================================================
LEGISLATIVE HEARING
before the
SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS, FORESTS
AND PUBLIC LANDS
of the
COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED ELEVENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
__________
Thursday, April 2, 2009
__________
Serial No. 111-15
__________
Printed for the use of the Committee on Natural Resources
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index.html
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COMMITTEE ON NATURAL RESOURCES
NICK J. RAHALL, II, West Virginia, Chairman
DOC HASTINGS, Washington, Ranking Republican Member
Dale E. Kildee, Michigan Don Young, Alaska
Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, American Elton Gallegly, California
Samoa John J. Duncan, Jr., Tennessee
Neil Abercrombie, Hawaii Jeff Flake, Arizona
Frank Pallone, Jr., New Jersey Henry E. Brown, Jr., South
Grace F. Napolitano, California Carolina
Rush D. Holt, New Jersey Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Washington
Raul M. Grijalva, Arizona Louie Gohmert, Texas
Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Guam Rob Bishop, Utah
Jim Costa, California Bill Shuster, Pennsylvania
Dan Boren, Oklahoma Doug Lamborn, Colorado
Gregorio Sablan, Northern Marianas Adrian Smith, Nebraska
Martin T. Heinrich, New Mexico Robert J. Wittman, Virginia
George Miller, California Paul C. Broun, Georgia
Edward J. Markey, Massachusetts John Fleming, Louisiana
Peter A. DeFazio, Oregon Mike Coffman, Colorado
Maurice D. Hinchey, New York Jason Chaffetz, Utah
Donna M. Christensen, Virgin Cynthia M. Lummis, Wyoming
Islands Tom McClintock, California
Diana DeGette, Colorado Bill Cassidy, Louisiana
Ron Kind, Wisconsin
Lois Capps, California
Jay Inslee, Washington
Joe Baca, California
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, South
Dakota
John P. Sarbanes, Maryland
Carol Shea-Porter, New Hampshire
Niki Tsongas, Massachusetts
Frank Kratovil, Jr., Maryland
Pedro R. Pierluisi, Puerto Rico
James H. Zoia, Chief of Staff
Rick Healy, Chief Counsel
Todd Young, Republican Chief of Staff
Lisa Pittman, Republican Chief Counsel
------
SUBCOMMITTEE ON NATIONAL PARKS, FORESTS AND PUBLIC LANDS
RAUL M. GRIJALVA, Arizona, Chairman
ROB BISHOP, Utah, Ranking Republican Member
Dale E. Kildee, Michigan Don Young, Alaska
Neil Abercrombie, Hawaii Elton Gallegly, California
Grace F. Napolitano, California John J. Duncan, Jr., Tennessee
Rush D. Holt, New Jersey Jeff Flake, Arizona
Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Guam Henry E. Brown, Jr., South
Dan Boren, Oklahoma Carolina
Martin T. Heinrich, New Mexico Louie Gohmert, Texas
Peter A. DeFazio, Oregon Bill Shuster, Pennsylvania
Maurice D. Hinchey, New York Robert J. Wittman, Virginia
Donna M. Christensen, Virgin Paul C. Broun, Georgia
Islands Mike Coffman, Colorado
Diana DeGette, Colorado Cynthia M. Lummis, Wyoming
Ron Kind, Wisconsin Tom McClintock, California
Lois Capps, California Doc Hastings, Washington, ex
Jay Inslee, Washington officio
Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, South
Dakota
John P. Sarbanes, Maryland
Carol Shea-Porter, New Hampshire
Niki Tsongas, Massachusetts
Pedro R. Pierluisi, Puerto Rico
Nick J. Rahall, II, West Virginia,
ex officio
CONTENTS
----------
Page
Hearing held on Thursday, April 2, 2009.......................... 1
Statement of Members:
Grijalva, Hon. Raul M., a Representative in Congress from the
State of Arizona........................................... 1
Prepared statement of.................................... 3
Statement of Witnesses:
Childress, James, Civilian Conservation Corps of West
Virginia................................................... 27
Prepared statement of.................................... 28
Hendricks, Marcus, SCA Participant, George Washington
University................................................. 22
Prepared statement of.................................... 23
Jewell, Sally, President and CEO, Recreational Equipment,
Inc., and Trustee, National Parks Conservation Association. 29
Prepared statement of.................................... 30
Kashdan, Hank, Associate Chief, Forest Service, U.S.
Department of Agriculture.................................. 9
Prepared statement of.................................... 10
Penny, Dale M., President and CEO, The Student Conservation
Association................................................ 17
Prepared statement of.................................... 19
Prouty, Sally T., President and CEO, The Corps Network....... 23
Prepared statement of.................................... 24
Reynolds, John J., Coalition of National Park Service
Retirees................................................... 35
Prepared statement of.................................... 36
Shafroth, Will, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife
and Parks, U.S. Department of the Interior................. 4
Prepared statement of.................................... 6
LEGISLATIVE HEARING ON H.R. 1612, TO AMEND THE PUBLIC LANDS CORPS ACT
OF 1993 TO EXPAND THE AUTHORIZATION OF THE SECRETARIES OF AGRICULTURE,
COMMERCE, AND THE INTERIOR TO PROVIDE SERVICE-LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES ON
PUBLIC LANDS, HELP RESTORE THE NATION'S NATURAL, CULTURAL, HISTORIC,
ARCHAEOLOGICAL, RECREATIONAL, AND SCENIC RESOURCES, TRAIN A NEW
GENERATION OF PUBLIC LAND MANAGERS AND ENTHUSIASTS, AND PROMOTE THE
VALUE OF PUBLIC SERVICE. (PUBLIC LANDS SERVICE CORPS ACT OF 2009)
----------
Thursday, April 2, 2009
U.S. House of Representatives
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands
Committee on Natural Resources
Washington, D.C.
----------
The Subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 2:00 p.m. in
Room 1324, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. Raul M.
Grijalva, [Chairman of the Subcommittee] presiding.
Present: Representatives Grijalva, Bishop, Holt, Bordallo,
Christensen, DeGette, Inslee and Sarbanes.
STATEMENT OF THE HONORABLE RAUL M. GRIJALVA, A REPRESENTATIVE
IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF ARIZONA
Mr. Grijalva. Thank you very much. Let me call the
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands to
order on a hearing on the Public Lands Service Corps Act of
2009. Today the Subcommittee will hear testimony on legislation
I introduced two weeks ago, along with Chairman Rahall, to help
repair and restore our nation's public lands while employing
and training thousands of young Americans and promoting a
culture of public service.
In 1993 when the Public Lands Corps was established through
the good work of our late colleague, Bruce Vento of Minnesota,
there were huge backlogs of labor-intensive work on national
park lands, forests, wildlife refuges, historic sites and
Indian lands. Unfortunately, we still face those challenges and
more. Years of inadequate funding have put these agencies
further behind on vital maintenance work while infrastructure
continues to crumble.
Despite the best efforts of these underfunded agencies,
natural and cultural resources have been neglected, and in many
places, the effects of climate change are magnifying earlier
problems, such as fire risk, damage by insects and invasive
species, coastal erosion and fragmented habitat. We have
started to attack this problem with the recently passed
stimulus legislation, but this is only a start.
Much remains to be done on our public lands. The bill, H.R.
1612, will expand and invigorate an existing program, the
Public Lands Corps, by streamlining its management, modernizing
its scope and providing new tools to help the program
accomplish its mission.
This legislation not only takes a decisive step forward in
finishing desperately needed work on our national park lands,
forests, wildlife refuges, historic sites and Indian lands, but
also recognizes the importance of our coastal and marine
systems and our national marine sanctuaries. These lands and
waters have not previously been eligible for Public Lands Corps
projects.
Our legislation adds authority to participate in the
program by offering Corps members a chance to work on restoring
coastal and marine ecosystems along our oceans and Great Lakes.
In addition, the legislation adds incentives and encourages the
agencies to pursue an aggressive outreach program to attract
new participants, especially from underrepresented populations,
and prepare them for possible careers in those agencies or in
conservation fields.
This expanded public service initiative will introduce
people from a greater diversity of social, ethnic and cultural
backgrounds to our nation's parks, forests and public lands--
not only as possible future employees, but as lifelong
enthusiasts and protectors.
The bill also includes language to ensure adequate housing,
authorize participants in existing volunteer programs to
contribute both as mentors and on Corps projects, expand the
program for college and graduate students and broaden
preferential hire provisions. This legislation takes advantage
of an opportunity to provide meaningful employment and training
to young people who need it while also improving the condition
of our priceless natural and cultural resources.
I am pleased that President Obama and Interior Secretary
Salazar have made national service a priority, and I look
forward to the comments of our Administration witnesses today.
I am proud to have the support of preeminent conservation
groups, as well as the leading national parks advocacy groups,
all of whom are here to testify today.
I also want to thank the gentleman from West Virginia, our
Chairman, Mr. Rahall, for his support of this legislation.
Other members have also indicated their interest in service
learning on public lands, and I look forward to working with
them and with members of the other body who have a long
interest in the Public Lands Corps.
With this, I will hold further comments until Mr. Bishop
arrives for his opening comments, but let me welcome our
witnesses today and our first panel, Mr. Will Shafroth, Deputy
Assistant Secretary for Fish, Wildlife and Parks, U.S.
Department of the Interior, and Mr. Hank Kashdan, Associate
Chief of the U.S. Forest Service.
Gentlemen, your written statements will be made part of the
record and your oral comments are limited to five minutes.
Welcome. It is good to have you here. I look forward to your
comments on this legislation. Sir, if you would like to begin.
Thank you for being here.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Grijalva follows:]
Statement of The Honorable Raul M. Grijalva, Chairman,
Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands
Today the Subcommittee will hear testimony on legislation I
introduced two weeks ago, along with Chairman Rahall, to help repair
and restore our nation's public lands while employing and training
thousands of young Americans and promoting a culture of public service.
In 1993, when the Public Lands Corps was established through the
good work of our late colleague Bruce Vento of Minnesota, there were
huge backlogs of labor-intensive work on national park lands, forests,
wildlife refuges, historic sites and Indian lands.
Unfortunately, we still face those challenges and more: years of
inadequate funding have put these agencies further behind on vital
maintenance work while infrastructure continues to crumble. Despite the
best efforts of these underfunded agencies, natural and cultural
resources have been neglected, and in many places the effects of
climate change are magnifying earlier problems such as fire risk,
damage by insects and invasive species, coastal erosion and fragmented
habitat.
We have started to attack this problem with the recently passed
stimulus legislation, but that is only a start. Much remains to be done
on public lands.
Our bill, H.R. 1612, will expand and reinvigorate an existing
program, the Public Lands Corps, by streamlining its management,
modernizing its scope and providing new tools to help the program
accomplish its mission.
This legislation not only takes a decisive step forward in
finishing desperately needed work on our national park lands, forests,
wildlife refuges, historic sites and Indian lands, but also recognizes
the important are our coastal and marine systems, and our national
marine sanctuaries.
These lands and waters have not previously been eligible for Public
Lands Corps projects; our legislation adds authority for the National
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration to participate in the program by
offering Corps members a chance to work on restoring coastal and marine
ecosystems along our oceans and the Great Lakes.
In addition, the legislation adds incentives and encourages the
agencies to pursue an aggressive outreach program to attract new
participants, especially from underrepresented populations, and prepare
them for possible careers in those agencies or in conservation fields.
This expanded public service initiative will introduce people from
a greater diversity of social, ethnic and cultural backgrounds to our
nation's parks, forests and public lands not only as possible future
employees but also as lifelong enthusiasts.
The bill also includes language to:
ensure adequate housing,
authorize participants in existing volunteer programs to
contribute both as mentors and on Corps projects,
expand the program for college and graduate students, and
broaden preferential hire provisions.
This legislation takes advantage of an opportunity to provide
meaningful employment and training to young people who need it, while
also improving the condition of our priceless natural and cultural
resources.
I am pleased that President Obama and Interior Secretary Salazar
have made national service a priority and I look forward to the
comments of our administration witnesses today.
I am proud to have the support of the pre-eminent conservation
corps groups, as well as leading national parks advocacy groups, all of
whom are here to testify today.
I also want to thank the gentleman from West Virginia, Chairman
Rahall, the chairman of full committee, for his support of this
legislation. Other members have also indicated their interest in
service-learning on public lands, and I look forward to working with
them, and with members of the other body who have a long interest in
the Public Lands Corps.
With that, let me turn to Mr. Bishop for any opening comments he
may have.
______
STATEMENT OF WILL SHAFROTH, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SECRETARY FOR
FISH, WILDLIFE AND PARKS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR,
ACCOMPANIED BY CHRISTOPHER K. JARVI, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR,
PARTNERSHIP & VISITOR EXPERIENCE, OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR,
NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Mr. Shafroth. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. My name is Will
Shafroth, I am the Deputy Assistant Secretary for Fish,
Wildlife and Parks at the Department of the Interior. Thank you
for the opportunity to testify here on H.R. 1612, the Public
Lands Service Corps Act of 2009.
Before I begin, I would like to introduce the three people
from the Department of the Interior who have key roles in youth
service and conservation programs, and they are here to help
answer any specific questions you or members of the Committee
may have about their particular bureaus.
Christopher Jarvi of the National Park Service is Associate
Director for Partnerships and Visitor Experience; Kevin
Kilcullen of the Fish and Wildlife Service is Branch Chief for
Visitor Services for the National Wildlife Refuge System; and
Mary Tisdale is the Bureau of Land Management's Division Chief
of Education, Interpretation and Partnerships. So when we get
to the point where you are asking really specific questions, I
am going to turn it over to them.
Mr. Chairman, the Department strongly supports H.R. 1612.
You already acknowledged Secretary Salazar's commitment to
this. This commitment goes back 20 years in his professional
career to try to employ young people in our natural resources
from all different aspects of our society.
This bill would strengthen and facilitate the use of the
Public Lands Corps Program, helping to fulfill the vision that
Secretary Salazar has for promoting ways to engage young people
across America to serve their community and their country.
While we are strongly supportive of the bill, there are a few
areas where we would like to suggest some changes, and we will
continue to work with your staff and the Committee to provide
our recommended changes to you in writing in the very near
future.
Congresswoman DeGette, nice to see you. Expanding the use
of Public Lands Corps could be a particularly important part of
our overall strategy for increasing opportunities and
incentives for young people to become involved because this
program serves other high priority goals as well.
Besides helping us get much needed work done on our public
lands, it also provides a way to, first, reconnect young people
with their natural environment and cultural heritage; second,
it makes progress on energy conservation and the use of
alternative sources of energies, another huge priority for
Secretary Salazar; and third, provide education, training and
career building experiences, including a pathway to careers
with Federal land management agencies.
The Department regards the Public Lands Corps program as an
important and successful example of civic engagement in
conservation. The National Park Service in particular has made
widespread use of the program. Last year the Park Service had
about 1,500 PLC members working on 178 projects in 99 different
park units. All three bureaus have been extensively engaged in
youth programs that have similar goals.
We think that the changes that would be made under H.R.
1612 would strengthen and improve the Public Lands Corps in
ways that would encourage broader agency use of the program. We
endorse adding the word ``service'' to the name of the program
to emphasize that aspect of the program. Most PLC projects at
national parks are designed to address maintenance and
ecological restoration needs, and those types of projects would
continue to be done under H.R. 1612.
However, this legislation specifies a broader range of
potential projects making it likely that Corps members could
become involved in more varied activities. We are used to
thinking of Corps members building trails, but they could be
doing all sorts of different kinds of projects, such as helping
develop materials for junior ranger programs, or visitor
handouts on safety, or working on historical documentation.
Corps participants would also be able to work for a partner
organization so long as the work experience is directly related
to the protection or management of public lands. The National
Park Service and the Fish & Wildlife Service have a large
number of partners that would be potential sponsors of young
people interested in the type of work they might offer.
The addition of specific authority for agencies to pay
transportation expenses for nonresidential Corps members is
critically important because transportation costs may be a
limiting factor in the participation of economically
disadvantaged young people. This is something that we learned
in our work in Colorado, particularly. We found it to be very,
very important.
The Department would also benefit from the addition of a
consulting intern as a new category of service employment under
the PLC program. These interns would be graduate students who
would help agencies carry out management analyses, development,
business plans, things like that, which would also be quite
important.
The provisions for hiring successful Corps members
noncompetitively at the end of their appointment would provide
the agency with an influx of knowledgeable employees, as well
as career opportunities for those interested in the agencies'
mission. The legislation would also encourage bureaus utilizing
this program to expand the scope of corps programs to reflect
modern day challenges, such as climate change.
It would also add incentives to attract new participants,
especially from underrepresented populations. Mr. Chairman,
H.R. 1612 proposes many changes to the Public Lands Corps Act
of 1993 that we strongly support because we think they would
improve and revitalize the use of this program. However, as we
have looked closely at the bill, we have identified some areas
of concern, such as provisions for cost sharing and hiring
authority, that we want to talk to you more about.
We want to take a closer look at those areas before
suggesting potential amendments. As I said at the outset, we
look forward to working with you and the Committee on this
bill. Just on a personal note, I want to again express the
Secretary's strong interest and commitment to this program.
When he talks to different groups he identifies three programs
and priorities for him in his time as Interior Secretary: the
area of energy, preserving our treasured landscapes and
employing youth.
So it is one of his top priorities. Every staff meeting at
10:00 in the morning we talk about it, so it is on his mind.
Personally, I have worked on these issues since the early
1990s. I oversaw the California Conservation Corps in my job
there in the State of California, and since being back in
Colorado in 1994 have been involved in expanding the
Secretary's good work in creating the Youth and Natural
Resources Program in the State of Colorado, but also helping to
grow and expand a number of youth corps programs throughout our
state, both at the county and the regional level.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my remarks. I would be happy
to answer any questions from the Committee.
Mr. Grijalva. Thank you very much. Mr. Kashdan?
[The prepared statement of Mr. Shafroth follows:]
Statement of Will Shafroth, Deputy Assistant Secretary for
Fish, Wildlife and Parks, U.S. Department of the Interior
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to appear before your
committee to present the views of the Department of the Interior on
H.R. 1612, a bill that would amend the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993
to expand the authorization of the Secretaries of the Interior,
Agriculture and Commerce to provide service-learning opportunities on
public lands, help restore the Nation's natural, cultural, historic,
archaeological, recreational and scenic resources, train a new
generation of public land managers and enthusiasts, and promote the
value of public service.
The Department strongly supports H.R. 1612. This bill would
strengthen and facilitate the use of the Public Land Corps (PLC)
program, helping to fulfill the vision that Secretary Salazar has for
promoting ways to engage young people across America to serve their
community and their country. While we are strongly supportive of H.R.
1612, there are a few areas where we would like to suggest some
changes. We will commit to work with the committee and to provide our
recommended changes to you in writing in the near future.
Engaging America's Youth Through Service
While there are other Federal programs that promote service,
expanding the use of the Public Land Corps could be a particularly
important part of our overall strategy for increasing opportunities and
incentives for young people to become involved because this program
serves other high-priority goals as well. Through it, we could
reconnect young people with their natural environment and cultural
heritage; make progress on energy conservation and the use of
alternative sources of energy; and provide education, training, and
career-building experiences--and a pathway to careers in Federal land
management agencies, which are in serious need of new, younger
employees.
Secretary Salazar created the Youth in Natural Resources program
during his tenure at the Colorado Department of Natural Resources as a
way to educate thousands of young people about Colorado's natural
resources, and he saw firsthand what a difference it made in their
lives. From the day he was nominated as Secretary of the Interior, he
has emphasized that it would be one of his top priorities to find more
ways to introduce young Americans from all backgrounds to the beauty of
our national parks, refuges, and public lands and to promote an ethic
of volunteerism and conservation in the younger generation. Enactment
of this legislation could pave the way to meeting one of the
Secretary's top priority goals--to develop a 21st Century Youth
Civilian Conservation Corps.
Background on Public Land Corps Program
The Department regards the Public Land Corps program as an
important and successful example of civic engagement and conservation.
Authorized by the National and Community Service Trust Act on in 1993,
the program uses non-profit organizations such as the Student
Conservation Association (SCA) and other service and conservation corps
organizations affiliated with the Corps Network as the primary partners
in administering the Public Land Corps program. In addition, other non-
profit youth organizations such as the YMCA also participate, as do
local high schools and job-training youth organizations. The youth
organizations assist the National Park Service (NPS) in its efforts to
attract diverse participants to the parks by recruiting youth 16-25
years of age from all socioeconomic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds.
The National Park Service makes extensive use of the PLC program.
Projects are funded through recreational fee revenue, with the typical
project receiving $25,000 from NPS plus a 25 percent match from a
partner organization. NPS spent $4.1 million on the program in FY 2008,
which funded about 1,500 young men and women working on 178 projects at
99 park units. Most PLC projects at parks are designed to address
maintenance and ecological restoration needs. The NPS also conducts
other youth service and conservation projects at larger parks which are
funded out of the parks' own budgets.
NPS also spent more than $3 million on the Youth Conservation Corps
program which is a summer employment program for 15-18 year old youth.
NPS in Fiscal Year 2008 employed 833 youth to work on conservation
projects across the country. The YCC program has been administered by
the National Park Service since 1974.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (FWS) have a long history of employing youth service and
conservation corps participants from the SCA, Youth Conservation Corps
and other organizations for a wide array of projects related to public
lands resource enhancement and facility maintenance. Though most corps
are affiliated with the nationwide Corps Network, they are often
administered at the state, rather than national level. For example, the
FWS and SCA have partnered for over 20 years to offer work and learning
opportunities to students. In FY 2007, 122 Conservation Interns served
at 45 FWS sites in 24 states, contributing more than 80,000 hours of
work.
The BLM has engaged the services of SCA interns for many years
under a longstanding national assistance agreement, then under
individual state agreements. In 2006, the last year of BLM's national
agreement, a total of 116 SCA members served at 16 BLM sites in eight
states. The interns participated in a variety of conservation service
activities such as recreation and river management, historic building
restoration and maintenance, seed collection, and invasive species
control. BLM's Salem Oregon District, for example, hires a mixture of
Northwest Youth Corps, Clackamas County, and Columbia River Youth Corps
members each year to perform a variety of activities such as trail
maintenance and construction.
The FWS manages 587 units of the National Wildlife Refuge System
that cover over 150 million acres, as well as 70 National Fish
Hatcheries, which would directly benefit from programs authorized under
H.R. 1612. National Wildlife Refuges and National Fish Hatcheries enjoy
strong relationships with the local communities in which they are
located, and are involved in many community-based projects that help
maintain sustainable landscapes. The FWS's work is also supported by
over 200 non-profit Friends organizations that assist in offering
quality education programs, mentoring, and work experience for youth.
In 2007, the FWS employed 496 Youth Conservation Corps enrollees
and 177 individuals through the Student Conservation Association
program. Last year, over 39,000 volunteers contributed their time and
talents to a variety of programs including support for youth education
projects. Over the past two years the FWS has provided funding for a
YCC program involving the Mescalero Apache youth at the Mescalero
Tribal Hatchery in New Mexico. The FWS has working relationships with
numerous colleges and universities for students interested in pursuing
careers in fish and wildlife management.
The Public Lands Service Corps Act of 2009
H.R. 1612 would make several administrative and programmatic
changes that, in our view, would strengthen and improve the Public Land
Corps Act. These changes would encourage broader agency use of the
program, make more varied opportunities available for young men and
women, and provide more support for participants during and after their
service. Appropriately, H.R. 1612 would change the program's name to
Public Lands Service Corps, reflecting the emphasis on ``service'' that
is the hallmark of the program. President Obama is committed to
providing young people with greater opportunities and incentives to
serve their community and country. Through an enhanced Public Lands
Service Corps, we would be taking a critical first step that direction.
Key changes that the legislation would make to existing law
include:
Adding the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration, which administers national marine sanctuaries, as an
agency authorized to use the program;
Authorizing a departmental-level office at the Department
of the Interior to coordinate Corps activities within the three land
management bureaus;
Requiring each of the three relevant departments to
undertake a contract for a recruiting program for the Corps;
Requiring each of the three relevant departments to
establish a training program for Corps members, and identifying
specific components the training must include;
Identifying more specific types of projects that could be
conducted under this authority;
Allowing participants in other volunteer programs to
participate in PLC projects;
Allowing agencies to make arrangements with other
Federal, state, or local agencies, or private organizations, to provide
temporary housing for Corps members;
Providing explicit authority for the establishment of
residential conservation centers, and encouraging those centers to be
constructed using solar and other green technology with the involvement
of Corps participants;
Authorizing agencies to recruit experienced volunteers
from other programs to serve as mentors to Corps members;
Adding ``consulting intern'' as a new category of service
employment under the PLC program;
Allowing agencies to apply a cost-of-living differential
in the provision of living allowances and to reimburse travel expenses;
Allowing agencies to provide noncompetitive hiring status
for Corps members for two years after completing service, rather than
only 120 days, if certain terms are met;
Allowing agencies to provide job and education
counseling, referrals, and other appropriate services to Corps members
who have completed their service; and
Eliminating the $12 million authorization ceiling for the
program.
We believe that the Department's program would benefit from
enactment of this legislation. As noted above, most PLC projects at
national parks are designed to address maintenance and ecological
restoration needs, and those types of projects would continue to be
done under H.R.1612. However, this legislation specifies a broader
range of potential projects, making it likely that Corps members could
become involved in such varied activities as historical and cultural
research, museum curatorial work, oral history projects and programs,
documentary photography, public information and orientation services
that promote visitor safety, and activities that support the creation
of public works of art. Participants might assist employees in the
delivery of interpretive or educational programs and create
interpretive products such as website content, Junior Ranger program
books, printed handouts, and audiovisual programs.
PLC participants would also be able to work for a park partner
organization where the work might involve sales, office work,
accounting, and management, so long as the work experience is directly
related to the protection and management of public lands. The NPS and
the FWS have a large number of partner organizations that would be
potential sponsors of young people interested in the type of work they
might offer.
An important change for the Department is the addition of specific
authority for agencies to pay transportation expenses for non-
residential Corps members. Transportation costs may be a limiting
factor in program participation of economically disadvantaged young
people.
Another important change is the addition of ``consulting intern''
as a new category of service employment under the PLC program,
expanding on the use of mostly college-student ``resource assistants,''
provided for under existing law. The consulting interns would be
graduate students who would help agencies carry out management analysis
activities. NPS has successfully used business and public management
graduate student interns to write business plans for parks for several
years, and this addition would bring these interns under the PLC
umbrella.
The Public Lands Service Corps would also offer agencies the
ability to hire successful corps members non-competitively at the end
of their appointment, which would provide the agency with an influx of
knowledgeable employees as well as career opportunities for those
interested in the agencies' mission. Refuges and hatcheries, for
example, are uniquely qualified to connect with local communities since
the Service has so many refuges across the country that are located
near smaller communities and can directly engage urban, inner city, and
rural youth. For example, partnering academic institutions could offer
educational programs to enhance the students' work experience, thereby
providing orientation and exposure to a broad range of career options.
The legislation would also give the Department's other bureaus that
would utilize this program the authority to expand the scope of
existing corps programs to reflect modern day challenges, such as
climate change and add incentives to attract new participants,
especially from underrepresented populations.
An expanded Public Lands Service Corps program would provide more
opportunities for thousands of young Americans to participate in public
service while we address the critical maintenance, restoration, repair
and rehabilitation needs on our public lands and gain a better
understanding of the impacts of climate change on these treasured
landscapes.
Mr. Chairman, that concludes my remarks. I would be happy to answer
any questions you or the other members of the subcommittee have.
______
STATEMENT OF HANK KASHDAN, ASSOCIATE CHIEF,
FOREST SERVICE, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Mr. Kashdan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Bishop, other
members of the Subcommittee, it is a pleasure to be here today
to talk about amending the Public Lands Corps Act of 1993. It
is also a pleasure to be here with Mr. Shafroth and the
Committee that follows, especially Sally Prouty, who has been a
key member of the corps network and has been a privilege to
work with.
I also want to note that there is a class from Montreat
College in North Carolina in outdoor recreation. That is
certainly a topic pertinent to this hearing, and we will be
looking forward to visiting with that class tomorrow in our
respective offices. Mr. Chairman, let me summarize briefly the
remarks contained in my testimony.
First, let me say how proud the Forest Service has been and
what a strong commitment it has to working with America's youth
and young adults. I think this has been exemplified in how we
have worked with the Job Corps Civilian Conservation Program
for more than 40 years. We will soon be the sole operator of
all 28 Civilian Conservation Corps centers in the country. It
is part of that commitment to the nation's young adults.
We have also worked extensively with other conservation
corps, and in fact, one of the first projects rolled out under
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act was a California
Conservation Corps project on the San Bernardino which was
featured last week on prime time nightly news. We have touched
close to a million young adults with the programs that we have
been involved in. It is something we have been very proud of.
We really feel that as the Nation becomes more urban, more
technology-oriented, there is even a greater need for the
authority that would be provided in this act. We think we can
expose tens of thousands of young people each year to the
issues of climate change.
We can help people internalize corps facts that we don't
feel in the heart, and that is that, you know, water comes from
the natural world, not from the faucet; that the air we breathe
can be purified by healthy forest ecosystems and even thriving
trees in big urban environments; that wildfire, although
dangerous and threatening, can also be good for the land; and
that the relationship with science and active management can
work with nature to offer greater opportunities to improve the
health of our ecosystems.
I think those broad values are reflected in the amendment
being considered today. This amendment contains a noticeable
shift from shovel and maintenance work to emphasis on
conservation education, green jobs, research and science,
leadership in the natural resource programs, work and policy
and analysis, and a particular attention to cultural and
heritage assets that are so important to the future of our
country.
No doubt that this amendment will also help the Forest
Service with its long-term employment in addressing issues of
attrition. It is clearly a potential source for many new
employees. In fact, I might note that Jack Lewis, a district
silviculturist in Colorado who is here with us on a detail, got
his start in one of these conservation corps.
It shows how important these conservation corps can be to
our future workforce, and a workforce that is highly diverse
and represents the diverse population of this country, and it
is just an ideal source for us to tap future employees from. So
we look forward to continuing to work in this environment with
both Job Corps and other conservation corps.
Speaking of Job Corps, the Forest Service has a strong
capability in the residential aspects that are discussed in
this bill. Job Corps centers are 24/7 environments serving the
needs of young adults, and we have a very good capability in
that area to provide residential experiences as might come from
this authority. We look forward to particularly lending that
expertise.
So we are very supportive, from the Department of
Agriculture and from the Forest Service, very supportive of
this amendment. We would be happy to look at and work with you
on future details, particularly focusing on the direct hire
authority, length of service requirements and better interfaces
with the Job Corps Civilian Conservation Program. So, Mr.
Chairman, that concludes my verbal remarks. I look forward to
answering any questions you may have.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Kashdan follows:]
Statement of Hank Kashdan, Associate Chief, Forest Service,
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Mr. Chairman and members of the Committee, thank you for the
opportunity to testify before you today on H.R. 1612, the Public Lands
Service Corps Act of 2009.
INTRODUCTION
We think that H.R. 1612 is a timely amendment to the Public Lands
Corps Act of 1993. The Nation's forests and grasslands are unique and
special ecosystems that the Forest Service manages to meet the needs of
present and future generations. These lands yield abundant sustainable
goods and ecosystem services for the American people. The National
Forest System lands, managed for multiple-use, sustained-yield is
indeed a place for the Public Lands Service Corps participants to learn
and practice an array of conservation, preservation, interpretation and
cultural resource activities, and take advantage of outstanding and
unique educational opportunities. Indeed, in West Virginia, Arizona and
in scores of other states the, Forest Service has benefited greatly
from the services of the Public Lands Corps project work on National
Forest System lands.
PUBLIC LANDS SERVICE CORPS ACT OF 2009
The Forest Service, while not a prolific user of the 1993 Act,
would be better positioned to increase its use of the Corps under H.R.
1612. We believe the expanded authority of that would be provided by
H.R. 1612 will improve the Act by removing the authorization of
appropriation ceiling and increasing our ability to engage young men
and women in performing critical work for the Nation.
The Department strongly supports H.R. 1612. This bill would
strengthen and facilitate the use of the Public Land Corps (PLC)
program, helping to fulfill the vision that Secretary Vilsak has for
promoting ways to engage young people across America to serve their
community and their country. While we are strongly supportive of H.R.
1612, there are a few areas where we would like to suggest some
changes. We will commit to work with the committee and to provide our
recommended changes to you in writing in the near future.
By including conservation education, service learning, training and
promoting the value of public service in addition to ``shovel work,''
we are likely to be able to increase our use of Public Land Service
Corps in a variety of program areas. The expanded authority can give us
new tools to engage young people in a variety of professional careers
including resource management, green jobs, visitor and interpretative
services, conservation education, media production and business skills.
This authority will further assist the Forest Service in providing
opportunities on a continuum of outdoor experiences from appreciation
to employment. It will support understanding of scientific principles
to enhance environmental literacy--the knowledge and skills needed to
make informed decisions and become engaged citizen stewards. This
investment will assist us in our work to provide quality settings,
services, and programs that maximize the benefits of our public lands
for the ever-changing needs of Americans, now and into the future.
This amendment is timely and welcomed. Evidence shows that children
today are growing up increasingly disconnected from nature. They are
gravitating away from developing personal connections to their forests
and grasslands. Researchers report that the gap between kids and
nature, the ``nature deficit disorder'', has far-reaching and negative
implications for the health and well-being of our Nation's children and
the future stewardship of public lands and natural resources. Along
with responding to climate change and forest water yield and storage,
the Forest Service is also addressing the issue of ``reconnecting
people with nature'' especially our children. History will judge the
conservation leaders of our age, including our own leadership in the
Forest Service, by how well we inspire our Nation's youth to accept the
mantle of conservation and natural resource management for posterity.
Through this amendment, young people will have the opportunity to
connect with public lands and the natural world and increase their
understanding of the value of trees, forests, grasslands and the
conservation management of public lands. Corps members will gain the
knowledge, skills or inspiration to seek careers in natural resource
management as well as making informed decisions relevant to forests and
grasslands in their role for mitigating the looming challenges of
climate change and prospective water shortages. The Public Land Service
Corps can be invaluable in our efforts to nurture and to grow the next
generation of conservation stewards and resource professionals, who
will have to address and meet these sustainability challenges.
Forests and grasslands are the natural backyards for many
communities throughout the United States. The Forest Service is
uniquely placed to link people with forests and grasslands in order to
strengthen the economic health of communities over the long-term. The
Forest Service's programs provide federal leadership in technical and
financial assistance to landowners and resource managers to help
sustain the Nation's forests and protect communities and the
environment from wildland fires. Conservation Education helps people of
all ages understand and appreciate the Nation's natural and heritage
resources and how to conserve those resources for future generations.
Forest Service technical and financial assistance help bring
communities, groups and businesses together to create diversified
economic and social activity built on forest resources management and
conservation. Community-based partnerships, of which the Public Lands
Service Corps is an example, offer the flexibility and capacity
building for finding long-term solutions to vexing natural and cultural
resource challenges. Cooperative and Urban Forestry programs help
communities become more economically self-sufficient by improving
competitiveness and offering service learning and employment
opportunities through stimulating markets for more diverse natural
resource management, use and conservation.
National Forest System lands are located in 42 States and the
Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. These lands and our infrastructure of
trails, roads and recreation facilities provide opportunities for
solace and solitude, challenge and risk, hunting and fishing and
outlets for physical and mental fitness. They connect society to the
natural world. However, many of our sites and much of our land base and
infrastructure is in need of restoration or repair and maintenance. For
example, we currently have an estimated $280 million backlog in
deferred trail maintenance work. The Public Lands Service Corps can
assist the agency by addressing this backlog.
The Forest Service is fully committed to the advancement of young
people through a variety of conservation projects, training, and
service learning and conservation education. Along with the Bureau of
Land Management, we can provide participants with an understanding of
the agency's history and training on multiple-use and sustained-yield
management of natural, cultural, historic, archaeological, recreational
and scenic resources. Our mission, ``To sustain the health, diversity
and productivity of the Nation's forests and grasslands to meet the
needs of present and future generations,'' can only be achieved by
educating future generations and training the future public and private
land managers. In turn, they will promote the value of public service
and continue the conservation legacy of natural resource management for
the United States.
The Forest Service has in place offices to play a key role in the
coordination of the Public Lands Service Corps through its National Job
Corps Civilian Conservation Centers program and other staff. The Forest
Service National Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers would likely
be the coordinating office for Public Lands Service Corps in the Forest
Service.
The broader definition of natural, cultural and historic resource
work under the amendment is beneficial to the Nation's forests and
grasslands as it provides for a wide variety of different types of work
across diverse landscapes. This expansion enhances the Forest Service
ability to instill in a new generation of young men and women,
including those from diverse backgrounds, the desire to seek careers in
natural and cultural resource stewardship and public service by
allowing them to work directly with conservation professionals in land
management, agencies. This would promote public understanding and
appreciation of the mission and work of the federal land, coastal and
ocean management agencies.
Our history of program delivery through Forest Service Job Corps
Civilian Conservation Centers and conservation education centers for
training young people has been a vital tool in reaching more than 6
million youth of all ages. We appreciate the flexibility of the
expanded authority in section 205, which would authorize the use of
residential facilities. The Forest Service Job Corps Civilian
Conservation Centers have the institutional capacity to operate
residential facilities successfully. However, there are a number of
implementation issues that need to be considered in establishing new
residential conservation centers. These include the costs of operating
and maintaining the facilities, potential liability issues, and
questions about the impact on contract and labor laws. We would like to
work with the committee on addressing these types of issues.
The U.S. Forest Service has been operating residential Civilian
Conservation Centers for more than 40 years through the interagency
agreement with the Department of Labor Job Corps Programs. The 2009
Omnibus Appropriations Act authorized the Forest Service to operate six
additional Job Corps Centers formerly run by the Bureau of Reclamation
in addition to our 22 residential Job Corps Civilian Conservation
Centers.
Because the Forest Service has a long history of successfully
operating residential centers, our employees have extensive experience
with the unique opportunities and challenges found in youth training
programs. With our partners, we can confidently leverage our resources
and expand our ability to develop a well-trained and responsible
workforce in natural resources and business. Youth will participate in
community service and restoration and stewardship projects, leadership
and self-government programs, recreation and team-building and
independent living skills training.
The bringing together of diverse backgrounds, ages, cultures,
education and training skills provides the participants with multi-
cultural experiences and develops awareness and sensitivity for other
people and cultures that would not be available in a non-residential
program. Residential centers also create the need for a structured
behavior management program to ensure the health and safety of students
and staff.
DEFINITIONS
The amendment would increase the opportunity for Public Lands
Service Corps members to leverage their education and work experience
in obtaining permanent full-time employment with Federal agencies.
We respectfully suggest that the Forest Service Job Corps at
Civilian Conservation Centers be recognized as an entity that may carry
out appropriate natural and cultural resources conservation projects.
This recognition would clearly link the work and training of the Forest
Service Job Corps at Civilian Conservation Centers with projects that
assist in the management of the National Forest System.
CONCLUSION
Mr. Chairman and Members of the Committee this concludes my
prepared statement. I am happy to answer any questions that you or
Members of the Committee may have.
______
Mr. Grijalva. Thank you very much. I have questions but let
me first of all turn to our Ranking Member, Mr. Bishop, for any
opening comments that he might have. Thank you. We are going to
be called to vote in a little while, so hopefully we can get
through the questions for this first panel so they won't have
to wait for us. Let me forego my first questions and ask Dr.
Christensen if you have any questions you might want to ask or
comments.
Ms. Christensen. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I just think
that, you know, this bill is very timely. We have had some
experience with some of the conservation corps students in the
Virgin Islands, and I know that my superintendents at home
would really welcome the passage of this bill and the upgrade,
updating of the corps. I do have a question. Just, based on my
experience with the corps, most of the young people have been
college students.
Of course we have a need, as Mr. Kashdan has said, for all
kinds of skills. I was wondering if there were plans to work
with technical schools and any collaboration with skill
centers, technical schools in providing training for some of
those entry-level positions that these corps students or young
people might employ in the parks? My superintendent in St. John
has been interested in starting a job corps, for example, to
provide him with some young people who could begin to volunteer
in the parks, perhaps later to move into jobs and then move up
into the system.
Mr. Grijalva. If I may, sir. Just for the record----
Mr. Jarvi. Yes. My name is Chris Jarvi, I am the Associate
Director for the National Park Service for Partnerships and
Visitor Experience.
Mr. Grijalva. Thank you.
Mr. Jarvi. I also have youth programs. Through the PLC
program we actually do get not only college students but we
work through the corps network and 131 conservation corps
throughout the United States, we get quite a wide variety of
students and kids out of the inner city that participate in
these programs. If there are other approaches that we can use
to recruit participants, we will certainly look into it.
Mr. Kashdan. And, Ms. Christensen, I might just add that,
like Mr. Jarvi, there is a wide variety of participants in many
of the corps networks. I might add that in the Job Corps, of
the 4,000 to 5,000 enrollees we have, the vast majority would
not have college degrees. In fact, they would be very
exceptional if that were the case. So it is very much oriented
toward creating new directions in their life, as well as new
and emerging skills that would be so important for future
careers.
Ms. Christensen. Thank you. In interest of time, I yield
back my time.
Mr. Grijalva. Thank you very much. Mr. Bishop?
Mr. Bishop. Yes. Let me ask just three simple questions,
Mr. Shafroth, if I could. I would like to know about the
programs as far as supervision takes place. I have heard some
very positive reviews, but I have also heard some concerns that
the kids who are in this need some kind of supervision,
sometimes close supervision, and that regular employees are
taken from their duties to do that. How would this legislation
address that sort of issue?
Mr. Shafroth. Want me to take a little stab at that first?
Mr. Bishop. Go ahead.
Mr. Shafroth. Mr. Bishop, thank you for that question. Most
of the work that is done through the Public Lands Corps Program
is in a way outsourced to a partner organization, like Student
Conservation Association or one of the other corps networks,
and the supervision is generally done by those organizations
that our agencies are partnering with, and so there is a
relatively small amount of actual supervision that occurs by
the staff of the National Park Service or the Fish & Wildlife
Service. Chris, do you want to elaborate on that?
Mr. Jarvi. Well, that is generally true. With the more
talented, the more skilled college educated folks, we might
work directly with them, but for the most part, the supervision
comes through the various service providers that we work with.
We have been very satisfied with that and gotten good results.
Mr. Bishop. Let me talk liability issues with you on a
later date, if that is OK.
Mr. Jarvi. OK.
Mr. Bishop. How would the cost to operate this program
change under the legislation?
Mr. Shafroth. Mr. Chairman, Mr. Bishop, we have not done
our fiscal analysis of the bill at this point. We certainly
will be doing that as it progresses through the process, but I
don't have a specific answer for you as we haven't done that
analysis yet.
Mr. Bishop. OK. I am only the Ranking Member, I am not the
Chairman----
Mr. Shafroth. I know.
Mr. Bishop.--unless these guys their budget passed. All
right. Let me ask one last question. In February, I sent the
Department a request for certain National Park Service
documents. To date, I have yet to receive any response from
that request. When will I get that response?
Mr. Shafroth. I was just made aware of that earlier today,
Mr. Bishop, and I will make it my business this afternoon to go
back and talk to the director of the Park Service to expedite
that process as quickly as possible.
Mr. Bishop. Thank you. That is all.
Mr. Grijalva. Ms. DeGette?
Ms. DeGette. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I know it seems like
Colorado is taking over the Interior Department, and that is
our goal, just so you know. I will say, though, we have some
excellent, excellent folks going over there and I have known
Will Shafroth for many years. He is a dedicated public servant.
I urge everyone on this Subcommittee to get to know him and
work with him over the following years. I want to welcome you,
Will, to your new position. We are thrilled to have you.
I just have one question for the whole panel. I have been
reading some studies lately that indicate a disturbing trend in
the last few years where even though our population is
increasing, and certainly in the western United States our
population is increasing, nevertheless, usage of our public
lands is decreasing, in particular by young people. There are
some worries about this as we go into the years ahead.
I spent a lot of time talking to George Miller about this,
in fact. I am wondering if any of our witnesses would think
that legislation like this bill might bring young people back
into our public lands, re, or not re, but invest them into
these areas and start a whole new generation of commitment? For
any of you.
Mr. Shafroth. Well, Representative DeGette, first of all, I
want to thank you for your welcome and thank you for your great
service to our State of Colorado. Both here and when I first
met you when you were a member of the State Legislature, you
have been a great champion for conservation of our natural
resources. What you talk about is very important, I think.
There is a book written by a guy named Richard Louv you may
have read, Last Child in the Woods, that talks about sort of
the phenomena.
Like you, I have high school age children, and although I
make it a point of getting them out in nature, a lot of their
friends don't. I think we have a generation of young people who
are not as connected to the outdoors as many in our generation
were. Chairman and I talked earlier about his interest in this
subject matter and his own connection to the land. My boss, Ken
Salazar, has the same kind of connection having grown up in the
San Luis Valley on a ranch.
I think it is our duty in many ways to do all the different
things that we can do to reconnect this next generation of
Americans back to the land. I think expanding opportunities,
like the Public Lands Corps, is one way to do it. I think we
would like to do it in a pretty big way to try to recreate that
connection, but also, obviously, to do the many things that
need to be done in our public lands at the same time and
training young people in these careers and about natural
resources.
Mr. Kashdan. I might add, ma'am, that although the Forest
Service is in the Department of Agriculture, Secretary
Vilsack's son lives in Colorado, so we are certainly loving
Colorado too. What you cited is exactly right and it is what
makes our Kids in the Woods Program and our attention to this
program so essential because the natural world is so critical
in meeting the basic needs that are really being challenged and
that young people, frankly, have such little exposure to.
I know so many employees in the U.S. Forest Service got
their interest in working for the Forest Service by some
contact or some encounter with somebody in the woods, either
through a conservation corps, or ranger, or that kind of thing,
and it is just so important, and so it is a major emphasis area
for the Forest Service and key to, I think, some of our future
as a nation.
Ms. DeGette. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Grijalva. Thank you. Ms. Bordallo?
Ms. Bordallo. Thank you. Mr. Chairman, I want to go on
record as saying that this is a great program, and I like to
learn today that expanding the authorities of the Secretary to
build upon it is certainly something I support. I notice that
the Secretary of Commerce and NOAA will be included now under
this expansion authority. How are you going to be working with,
in particular NOAA, since I am Chair of the Subcommittee on
Fisheries and Oceans?
Mr. Shafroth. Well, Representative, they are not able to be
here today, obviously, but especially I think with the Fish &
Wildlife Service there is a strong connection in many areas
along our coasts. The Fish & Wildlife Service's jurisdiction
and the National Marine and Fisheries Service jurisdiction
isn't that different.
We care about spawning areas for fish, or we care about
restoration of wetlands, we care about restoration of rivers
and streams. So I think that it will be our duty to make sure
that we work closely together with them to try to bring them
into this program so that we are working jointly together on
accomplishing our mutual ends.
Ms. Bordallo. So this is occurring now? You are working
with them?
Mr. Shafroth. Yes, in many, many ways. On endangered
species implementation in particular we work closely with them,
but I also think that to date there hasn't been a strong
partnership on youth engagement, but I think we need to step up
and do that.
Mr. Kashdan. And I would echo that we have obviously a very
close working relationship with the Department of the Interior,
but we also work with the National Marine Fisheries Service,
and this is another partnership we would look forward to having
develop under this act.
Ms. Bordallo. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Grijalva. Thank you. Mr. Sarbanes?
Mr. Sarbanes. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you,
in particular, for this proposal because reinvigorating any
program that is getting our young people out into nature is one
I am a thousand percent behind. As you know, and you have been
very helpful with this, we have been pushing hard with this No
Child Left Inside legislation and there is a coalition now of
about 1,200 organizations across the country supporting that,
including many who are promoting getting our kids into our
parks and into that kind of recreational space.
So I really just want to thank you for joining this effort,
and supporting it and working hard to make it successful. It is
as though at a time when there is so much coming at our young
people from the virtual world in terms of the internet, and
video games, and television and everything, we are trying to
bring them squinting out into the light of day to enjoy nature.
Once they get out there they are going to become engaged,
and excited and jazzed, and they are actually going to lead the
rest of us out into our natural spaces, which is what is so
tremendously exciting. So I am so pleased at this legislation,
and thank you all for what you are doing to support it. Thank
you.
Mr. Grijalva. Thank you, Mr. Sarbanes. Let me thank the
panelists. Mr. Shafroth, I appreciate you being here today and
appreciate your comments. There were some additional comments,
but rather than keep you here after the break when we go to
vote, they had to do with the question about the expanding the
program to include older Americans, I would love your reaction
in writing about that.
Mr. Shafroth. OK.
Mr. Grijalva. And the Department level coordinator, why we
feel that is important, and your perspective and reaction to
that. Mr. Kashdan, the preferential hiring provisions under
this legislation, expanding that, redefining the language, your
reactions and your comments on that. It is a working product,
as I indicated to you earlier, and we look forward to working
with you and your staff on the suggestions that you outlined
today and moving toward mutual accommodations so this
legislation can go forward.
Please thank the Secretary for his encouragement on it, and
thank you very much. We are going to be recessed until after
votes. Thank you.
Mr. Shafroth. Thank you.
Mr. Kashdan. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[Recess.]
Mr. Grijalva. Let me reconvene the Subcommittee. Thank you
very much. Appreciate your patience. We will be being yanked,
well, maybe right now just me will be being yanked out of here
every hour or so, but I appreciate your indulgence. Let me
begin with our first panelist, Dale Penny, President & CEO of
Student Conservation Association and ask for your comments.
Appreciate you being here. I know you have a guest with you
that you want to have introduce himself or you can introduce
him, sir.
STATEMENT OF DALE M. PENNY, PRESIDENT & CEO, STUDENT
CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION, ACCOMPANIED BY MARCUS HENDRICKS, SCA
PARTICIPANT
Mr. Penny. Well thank you, Mr. Chairman. I appreciate very
much being able to speak with you today and to share this with
the colleagues on the panel, particularly Sally Prouty, who is
President of The Corps Network with which SCA does a lot of
work. My name is Dale Penny, I am President of the Student
Conservation Association, or SCA. It is a nationwide nonprofit
organization that since 1957 has engaged more than 50,000
diverse college and high school students in hands on
conservation service on America's public lands.
I applaud the Committee for recognizing both potential and
the need for an expanded Public Lands Service Corps and for
hearing testimony on what SCA believes is a particularly timely
and effective legislative initiative. This act will benefit the
Nation in three profound ways: by preserving our natural,
cultural and historical heritage; by providing jobs and job
training for thousands of deserving young people; and by
helping a new generation develop the skills and commitment to
become tomorrow's conservation and environmental leaders.
I should note that SCA was originally modeled after the old
Civilian Conservation Corps. It was founded by a young woman in
college in the 1950s who saw young volunteers as a solution to
helping the overburdened national parks. She wrote her senior
thesis on a proposed student conservation corps. The first
corps members reported to service at Grand Teton and Olympic
National Parks in 1957.
Today, SCA is America's leading national conservation
service corps, annually engaging thousands of young adults and
teens in parks, sanctuaries and urban communities in all 50
states. This year alone, SCA members will render more than two
million hours of service to their nation and their communities.
Mr. Chairman, the impact that these young people have on the
land is profound and immediate, but their influence extends
well beyond the here and now.
The evidence that conservation service does indeed produce
ardent stewards and citizens is convincing. A few facts. SCA's
alumni surveys reveal that some 60 percent of our members move
into conservation related professions and volunteer in
conservation endeavors in their home communities. A landmark
study of SCA and other outdoor programs by Dr. Stephen Kellert
at Yale showed that 78 percent of participants declared
themselves more environmentally aware, responsible and active
as a result of their experience.
A review of the workforce at the Departments of the
Interior, Agriculture and others throughout the public and
private sectors reveals that thousands of SCA alumni are
employed as rangers, scientists, environmental educators and
more. In fact, the National Park Service alone has estimated
that as many as 12 percent of its uniformed employees launched
their careers through SCA internships.
No one in this room needs to be reminded that our economy
and our environment are in crisis. Today's generation knows
unless we are able to address these issues, and soon, they will
inherit a host of problems that grow more acute by the day. I
want to assure you that there is also ample reason for hope.
Growing numbers of young people across the Nation are eager and
prepared to respond to a renewed call to service.
Applications to SCA are now at all time highs; more than 40
percent ahead of this point last year. Many other conservation
corps and service organizations are experiencing similar
growths and surges. An expanded Public Lands Service Corps,
along with President Obama's Give Act and the bipartisan
Kennedy/Hatch Serve America Act, when fully funded have the
potential to chart a new era of citizen service at a time when
our country and our people need it the most.
I know this bill is focused on Federal public lands;
however, to ensure nature's wonders and opportunities are
available to all populations and to bring a more inclusive
conservation community, SCA has for many decades focused on
engaging underserved urban populations. In cooperation with
city authorities we introduce African-American, Latino, Asian-
American and other young people to their hometown parks and
encourage them to explore their own unique connections with
nature.
We furnish them stipends to make our programs more
accessible and provide innovative roots to their education and
to provide them tangible job skills that lead to promising,
productive careers. I encourage this Committee to join SCA,
other conservation corps and other youth service programs in
building bridges between local communities and Federal lands.
As a proven partner of the bureaus within Interior,
Agriculture and Commerce and other Federal departments, SCA is
ready to help fulfill the objectives of this legislation by
engaging more young people in conservation service, reaching
out to diverse populations and providing tens of thousands of
emerging citizens with a direct pipeline to green jobs and
lifelong stewardship. I have a number of specific comments to
highlight on key components of this legislation which I will
submit in my written testimony.
I wish now to share my time with Marcus Hendricks who is a
recent SCA member and who is a fine example of the thousands of
young men and women who will benefit from this bill. We are
very proud of what Marcus has done and what he is going to do
with his life, and I would like for you to meet Marcus right
now.
Mr. Grijalva. Welcome, Mr. Hendricks, and look forward to
your comments.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Penny follows:]
Statement of Dale M. Penny, President & CEO,
The Student Conservation Association [SCA]
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, and the other distinguished members
of the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands.
My name is Dale Penny, and I am president of the Student
Conservation Association--SCA--a nationwide nonprofit organization
which since 1957 has engaged more than 50-thousand diverse college and
high school students in meaningful, hands-on conservation service in
the very parks, forests, and other public lands within the purview of
this committee.
I am grateful for the opportunity to speak with you today. I
applaud the committee for recognizing both the potential and the need
for an expanded Public Lands Service Corps and for hearing testimony on
what SCA believes is a particularly timely and effective legislative
initiative.
I should begin by noting that SCA was originally modeled after the
old Civilian Conservation Corps. More than a half century ago, a
college student who would become SCA's founder, Elizabeth Cushman Titus
Putnam, saw young volunteers as the solution to helping overburdened
national parks. Liz wrote her senior thesis on ``A Proposed Student
Conservation Corps'' and soon, with the aid of allies including Horace
Albright, the then-retired director of the National Park Service, the
first SCA corps members reported for service at Grand Teton and Olympic
National Parks.
Today, SCA is America's leading national conservation service
corps, annually engaging thousands of young adults and teenagers in
national parks, marine sanctuaries, and urban communities in all 50
states. This year alone, SCA members will render more than two million
hours of service to their nation and neighborhoods: aiding endangered
species, restoring threatened habitats, and addressing the factors
behind climate change, among many other practices, all to preserve our
natural and cultural treasures.
The impact these young people have on the land is as profound as it
is immediate, but their influence extends well beyond the here-and-now.
SCA exists to inspire lifelong stewardship in new generations of
conservation leaders--and with a track record that stretches for more
than five decades, the evidence that conservation services does,
indeed, produce ardent stewards is quite convincing.
SCA's alumni surveys reveal some 60% of our members move into
conservation-related professions and/or volunteer in conservation
endeavors in their home communities.
A landmark study of SCA programs and those of other outdoor
organizations by Dr. Stephen Kellert of Yale University showed that 78%
of participants declared themselves ``more environmentally aware'' as a
result of their experience and 72% noted becoming ``more
environmentally responsible.''
And a review of the workforce at the Departments of the Interior,
Agriculture and others, and throughout the private sector, reveals
thousands of SCA alumni employed as rangers, scientists, environmental
educators and more. In fact, the National Park Service alone estimates
that 12% of its uniformed employees launched their careers through SCA
internships, and just last year then-NPS Director Mary Bomar declared
that ``SCA is a real movement in America.''
Ensuring our young people enjoy a healthy, informed and enduring
connection to their natural and cultural heritage is essential for
their own continued well being as well as that of nature itself. Thus,
the current call for an expanded Public Land Service Corps could not be
more relevant or responsive. Yet this legislation stands to yield many
other benefits as well.
One does not have to spend too much time surveying the American
landscape to conclude that our economy, as well as our environment, is
in crisis. Young people, in particular, face suddenly daunting odds.
Family savings have eroded, household incomes are in jeopardy, and
student loans are difficult to obtain. All this has put a college
education--the very foundation of a prosperous adulthood--beyond the
reach of many. And those fortunate enough to be able to go to school
are at once confronting the most competitive job market in recent
memory.
These same young men and women face bleak environmental prospects
as well, with the increasing effects of climate change; continuous
threats to clean air, water and wildlands; and increasing competition
for our finite resources. Today's generation knows unless we are able
to address these issues, and soon, they will inherit a host of problems
that grow more acute by the day.
At the same time, however, there is ample hope. We know, for
example, that young people across our nation are eager and prepared to
respond to a renewed call to service. Applications to SCA are now at
all-time highs--more than 40% ahead of this point last year--and many
other service organizations are experiencing similar surges. An
expanded Public Land Service Corps, along with President Obama's Give
Act and the bipartisan Kennedy-Hatch Serve America Act, have the
potential to chart a new era in citizen service at a time when our
country and our people need it most.
Conservation service sustains resources, enriches lives,
strengthens character, and deepens one's commitment to American values.
It instills a powerful sense of ownership that keeps the ``public'' in
public lands. And it is a vital leadership model to the country and the
rest of the world as we broadly foster responsible, participatory
adulthood.
SCA is conservation service--and at the same time we are service-
learning. The word ``educate'' comes from the Latin word ``Educatus'',
meaning to draw or lead out. In the dictionary, the first definition of
education is ``to develop the person's natural powers through
experience and example.'' The secondary definition is ``to teach.''
SCA believes that young people best ``develop their natural
powers'' in nature, through service--by giving back and working toward
a goal bigger than self.
Just as important, expanded conservation service stands to provide
a new generation with the contemporary green job skills and experiences
they need to advance toward an emerging green economy--and to advance
America toward energy independence, a cleaner environment, and more
responsible consumerism.
In this area, too, SCA has both the ability to help and the
perspective to see that conservation service works. By engaging young
Americans in the stewardship of public lands, we are building lifelong
conservation leaders, voters, and citizens. We accomplish this across
all youth constituencies through outdoor service opportunities, career-
focused internships, and skill-building conservation jobs.
The sponsors and other supporters of this bill deserve tremendous
credit for seeking to strengthen the Public Land Corps and effectively
expand it beyond parks to include forests, seashores and other public
lands. Federal lands have long been--and will continue to be--among the
largest of SCA partners.
However, to ensure nature's wonders and opportunities are available
to all populations, and to bring about a more inclusive conservation
community, SCA has for some time focused on engaging underserved, often
ethnic, urban populations. In cooperation with city authorities and
with the support of corporations and foundations, we introduce African-
American, Latino, Asian-American and other young people of color to
their hometown parks and encourage them to explore their own unique
connections with nature. We furnish them with stipends to make our
programs more accessible, with new innovative routes to extend their
education, and with tangible job skills that lead to long, promising,
productive careers.
Although the city parks of Pittsburgh, Detroit, Oakland, and the
dozen other municipalities served by SCA are presently beyond the scope
of this legislation, I want you to know that each year SCA draws
thousands of diverse participants from these communities, and at every
step we are engaging, training, and opening professional doors for
them.
I further encourage the committee to join SCA in building bridges
between local communities and federal lands. This could be achieved by
funding local training programs for city and county parks, with a
commitment to paid public lands placement in continued training or
apprenticeships. By initiating engagement with nature at home, the
individual flourishes, the community benefits, and the participant is
empowered to go further afield into federal public lands management and
take their place within an agency workforce that, like many of us, is
widely approaching retirement.
SCA is a proven partner of the bureaus within Interior; among other
roles, we contributed significantly to the implementation of the
National Park Service's existing Public Land Corps Program. We also
work closely with Agriculture, Commerce and other federal departments.
Amid a burgeoning list of needs across the public landscape, SCA is
qualified and ready to help fulfill the objectives of this legislation
by engaging more young people in conservation service, reaching out to
diverse populations, and providing tens of thousands of emerging
citizens with a direct pipeline to green jobs and lifelong stewardship.
In closing, there are several specific aspects of the expanded
Public Land Corps Service Act deserving of special attention.
This bill recognizes that conservation service benefits
more than the land. It benefits the communities in which those who
serve live, the communities surrounding the park or forest, and most of
all the community at large as conservation service fosters an extended
practice of selflessness and helping those in need.
If we are to engage more young people in conservation
service, we must redouble our recruitment efforts and redouble them
again. SCA applauds the authors of this bill for including additional
outreach and we stand ready to assist in this effort in any way we can.
A lot has changed since passage of the original
legislation and this is acknowledged through this bill's inclusion of
educational products such as web content and audiovisual programs.
Technology can be viewed as the antithesis of nature, but at SCA we
know today's generation has grown up with cell phones and laptops and
quite naturally Facebooks, YouTubes and Twitters as part of daily life.
We must use these modern tools as a bridge to our natural and cultural
heritage.
I believe the consulting intern provision of this bill
has as much potential as any other. For some years, SCA's Business
Planning Intern program has sent MBA candidates as well as other
graduate students to national parks as business consultants.
Increasingly, these students postpone the green that Wall Street
offers--until recently, anyway--for the green of our national parks,
bringing with them enhanced efficiency and productivity.
The provision referencing residential centers addresses a
significant opportunity to furthering conservation service. At Mount
Rainier National Park, Delaware Water Gap NRA, and even the historic
``Blister Rust Camps'' at Yellowstone National Park, SCA restoration
corps have operated out of existing but closed camps. Utilizing these
facilities allows park units to mount large-scale service operations
with small-scale impacts on the environment, augmenting the effort
staged from more traditional tent camps.
The explicit expansion of ``public lands'' to include
seashores, marine estuaries and like resources, as well the specific
inclusion of the Commerce Department and the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration are wise and worthy additions. They
represent irreplaceable economic, environmental and cultural resources
and enabling these places to benefit from the efforts of the Public
Lands Service Corps will ensure their health and vitality for many
years to come.
The further expansion to the U.S. Geological Survey and
the Natural Resources Conservation Services is similarly important in
that it better facilitates the conservation of working lands such as
farms and ranches: iconic pieces of the tapestry that is the American
landscape.
Retaining and expanding AmeriCorps education awards is an
important factor in allowing middle- and low-income Americans to
participate on conservation service. From my vantage point, the value
rendered by these young people is many times that of the award's face
value, making this modest investment in America's future a monumental
bargain.
I am also pleased to see that alumni of the Public Lands
Service Corps will be afforded a noncompetitive hiring status for two
years following 960 hours of service which is critical to moving PLSC
alumni into paid positions. Building on our experience, SCA would
welcome the opportunity to provide alumni services such as job and
education counseling to alumni of the Public Lands Service Corps.
In conclusion, I am in strong support of the aims of this bill, as
I suspect are the more than 50,000 SCA alumni who have benefited in
very personal and profound ways from their own conservation service. To
achieve the legislation's objectives, SCA is prepared to grow to the
extent that funding will allow. Our recruiting, training, mentoring and
career counseling services are both proven and scalable. And SCA's
existing Cooperative Agreements with federal agencies will facilitate a
simple, rapid, and effective deployment.
National service is the greatest calling a citizen will ever hear--
and conservation service enables one to make both today and tomorrow
better for all. Thank you for the opportunity to speak to such a
sterling and urgent imperative.
______
STATEMENT OF MARCUS HENDRICKS,
GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
Mr. Hendricks. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify before you today, and
thank you, ma'am, as well. My name is Marcus Hendricks and I am
a sophomore studying mechanical engineering at the George
Washington University. I grew up in the D.C. area, and I went
to high school at the School Without Walls. I started working
with the SCA as a sophomore in high school in order to gain the
community service hours that I needed for graduation.
I have since accumulated over 400 hours and strongly
believe that that community service helped me to get into GW. I
have now worked on three crews, as well as participated in the
Conservation Leadership Corps with the SCA. Some of the
happiest moments of my life took place on those crews, not only
because of the people that I was working with, but also because
of the natural environment that I was working in that allowed
me to take my mind off of stressful things, such as homework
and school.
In school, students have the opportunity to enhance their
classroom learning with outdoor experiences so that they can
develop a personal attachment to what is learned in the
textbook or in educational videos. When I proposed going to a
local national park to my senior class for a field trip they
said it would be boring, they didn't want to get dirty and they
were afraid of bugs.
I believe they missed a valuable opportunity to experience
a sense of connection that comes with exploring the outdoors or
taking in the scenery on a hike that one of my crews worked on.
There is a real potential to connect students with a classroom
learning in fields such as geography and biology. Instead of
looking at illustrations of tributaries and ecosystems, it is a
lot more thrilling to be a part of an ecosystem if you are not
to careful in a national park.
If I had my way, this Committee would support any program
that would expand opportunities for young people to have
meaningful experiences and connections with the parks and
public lands that I had with SCA. Thank you for the opportunity
to speak before you today. I would be happy to answer any
questions you might have for me.
Mr. Grijalva. Thank you. Let me now ask Ms. Sally Prouty,
President & CEO of The Corps Network, and also, you are
accompanied by a guest that----
Ms. Prouty. I am. Thank you.
Mr. Grijalva.--you will introduce. Thank you very much.
Look forward to your comments.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Hendricks follows:]
Statement of Marcus Hendricks, George Washington University
Good afternoon. Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. My
name is Marcus Hendricks. I am a sophomore at George Washington
University, majoring in Mechanical Engineering.
I grew up in the D.C. area, and went to high school at the School
Without Walls. I started working with SCA as a sophomore in high school
to gain community service hours that I needed for high school
graduation. I have now worked on three crews, as well as participated
in the Conservation Leadership Corps program with SCA. Some of the
happiest moments of my life took place in my service in the parks with
SCA, not only because of the people that I was with, but also because
the natural environment brought me to a place where we did not consider
things at home like school- or work-related stress.
Before my SCA experience, I had very few field trips to national or
state parks. The ability to work in the parks allowed me to connect
what I was learning in the classroom with the work I did in the parks.
For example, I learned that the mountains of Guadalupe Mountains
National Park in Texas were carved out by large seas that existed
thousands of years ago, evidenced by fossil remains of sea-based
animals found in the now desert-like area. Watching videos in my high
school geography class could not compare with seeing and hearing it
with my own eyes and ears.
After planting trees and restoring trails in parks in Texas, West
Virginia, Maryland, and Washington, DC, I developed a connection to the
parks that I worked in and those like it. I believe that my service was
valuable to me for a number of reasons. First, the fresh air found in
national and state parks is simply amazing compared to the air I am
used to breathing where I attend college in downtown Washington, DC.
Also, parks offer a peaceful respite from the everyday stress and
commotion of the city.
Second, my desire to protect the parks has increased. I now recycle
more, refuse to litter, and always want to make sure that I take care
of green spaces that we all must share. When I participated in a
Potomac River clean-up event, my crew took several empty trash bags
with us to the bank of the Potomac and we went to our cleanup site.
When I got there, I saw so much trash that I was shocked. I could not
believe that so much trash was left in such a small area along the
bank. After everyone on our team collected about 3 bags of trash each,
there was so much more left that I knew that it would take at least 100
people filling at least 3 bags to make a significant difference in the
amount of trash that was piled up along the shore. Since that
experience, I have become a recycling ``junkie''--not only at home, but
also at school.
In school, students should have the opportunity to enhance their
classroom learning with outdoor field trips so that they can experience
the personal attachment to what is learned in a textbook or in
educational videos. When I proposed going to a local national park for
my senior class field trip, several members of my senior class
immediately turned it down. They said it would be boring, they would
not want to get dirty, or they would not like being around bugs. I
believe that they missed an opportunity to experience that sense of
connection and attachment that comes with exploring outside or taking
in the scenery on a hike on one of the trails I worked on.
If I had my way, this Committee would support any program that
expands opportunities for young people to have meaningful experiences
and connections to the parks and public lands the way I had with SCA.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak today.
______
STATEMENT OF SALLY T. PROUTY, PRESIDENT & CEO,
THE CORPS NETWORK
Ms. Prouty. Thank you. It is a privilege to be here, and we
appreciate you, Chairman Grijalva, and the members of the
Committee for the tremendous work. We are delighted with the
bill that is before us today. My name is Sally Prouty and I am
President & CEO of The Corps Network. It is my privilege to
speak strongly in support of this Public Lands Service Corps
Act.
I am here on behalf of The Corps Network and the 136
service and conservation corps it represents and the 26,000
young people enrolled in those corps. I wanted to note that
over half of the young people involved in the corps that we
represent enter the corps without a high school diploma or GED,
so there is a very wide range of young people that we
represent.
I have submitted comments but in the brief time I have this
afternoon I would like to emphasize why this bill is so
important, and certainly important to the world of corps that
we represent. First of all, it will bring much needed resources
to the tremendous backlogged projects that you all know about.
It will increase utilization of service and service learning as
strategies for accomplishing work on public lands.
It will also introduce more and more diverse young people
to America's public lands, instilling in them an appreciation
for nature and enjoyment of healthy recreation and a sense of
stewardship for our natural resources and the environment. In
addition, by expanding the noncompetitive hiring status of
Public Lands Corps members it will bring youth and diversity to
the land management agency workforce and provide additional
opportunities for young people, particularly those from
disadvantaged backgrounds, to pursue good careers in land and
natural resource management.
It will raise the profile of the Public Lands Service Corps
within the relevant agencies and establish coordinators making
it easier for corps and other youth service organizations to
participate, and it will help bring corps a proven youth
development strategy to scale. Today's corps are a proven
strategy for giving young men and women, many of whom are
economically or otherwise disadvantaged and out of work, out of
school, the chance to have a positive impact on their own lives
and the communities and the environment.
I would note that we know from random assignment evaluation
that young people enrolled in corps have substantial earnings
and employment gains, that risk behaviors decrease and we know
that findings are most significant for young, African-American
men. Very interesting that I am sitting here with you today.
Of the 26,000 corps members currently enrolled, 55 percent
have no high school diploma, 64 percent report family income
being below the Federal poverty level, 30 percent have had
previous Court involvement and at least 10 percent have been in
foster care.
Contemporary corps provide thousands of 16 to 25 year olds
the opportunity to earn a second chance in life through hard
work and service to their communities. The most important part
of my being here is that I am seated with James Childress, and
it is my pleasure to have you meet him as a representative of
the 26,000 young people that we represent. James?
Mr. Grijalva. Welcome, Mr. Childress. Thank you for being
here.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Prouty follows:]
Statement of Sally T. Prouty, President and CEO,
The Corps Network
Good afternoon Chairman Grijalva, Ranking Member Bishop, and
Distinguished Members of the Subcommittee.
My name is Sally Prouty and I am the President and CEO of The Corps
Network. It is my pleasure to be here today to speak in strong support
of Chairman Grijalva's bill, H.R. 1612, the Public Lands Service Corps
Act of 2009. I am here on behalf of The Corps Network, the 136 Service
and Conservation Corps it represents, and the 26,000 young people who
serve in Corps each year.
Mr. Chairman, with your approval, I will submit a more complete
statement for the record. In the brief time I have this afternoon,
however, I would like to emphasize why this bill is so important:
It will bring much-needed resources to the tremendous
backlog of projects needing to be accomplished on public lands;
It will increase the utilization of service and service-
learning as strategies for accomplishing work on public lands;
It will introduce more, and more diverse, young people to
America's public lands--instilling in them an appreciation for nature,
an enjoyment of healthy recreation, and a sense of stewardship for our
natural resources and the environment;
By expanding the non-competitive hiring status of Public
Lands Corpsmembers, it will bring youth and diversity to the land
management agency workforces and provide additional opportunities for
young people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, to
pursue good careers in land and natural resource management.
It will raise the profile of the Public Lands Service
Corps (PLSC) within the relevant agencies and establish a PLSC
coordinator, making it easier for Corps and other youth service
organizations to participate; and
It will help bring Corps, a proven youth development
strategy, to scale.
Service and Conservation Corps
History
As you know, Service and Conservation Corps are direct descendents
of the Depression-era Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) that provided
work and vocational training for unemployed single young men by
conserving and developing the country's natural resources. Between 1933
and 1942 when it was disbanded, the CCC employed almost 3.5 million men
who planted an estimated 2.5 billion trees, protected 40 million acres
of farmland from erosion, drained 248,000 acres of swamp land,
replanted almost a million acres of grazing land, built 125,000 miles
of roads, fought fires, and created 800 state parks and 52,000 acres of
campgrounds. But the biggest legacy of the CCC may have been the hope
it provided both the young men and their families.
Today
Today's Corps are a proven strategy for giving young men and women,
many of whom are economically or otherwise disadvantaged and out-of-
work and/or out-of-school, the chance to have a positive impact on
their own lives, their communities, and the environment.
Of the 26,000 Corpsmembers currently enrolled, approximately 55
percent have no High School diploma, 64 percent report family income
below the federal poverty level, 30 percent have had previous court
involvement and at least 10 percent have been in foster care.
Contemporary Corps provide thousands of 16-25 year olds the opportunity
to earn a second chance in life through hard work and service to their
communities.
In the Corps model, Corpsmembers are organized into crews of six to
10 people to carry out labor-intensive service projects while being
guided by adult leaders who serve as mentors and role models as well as
technical trainers and supervisors. In return for their efforts to
restore and strengthen their communities, Corpsmembers receive: 1) a
living allowance; 2) classroom training to improve basic competencies
and, if necessary, to secure a GED or high school diploma; 3)
experiential and environmental service-learning based education; 4)
generic and technical skills training; and 5) a wide range of
supportive services. Those Corpsmembers who are co-enrolled in
AmeriCorps also receive a Segal Education Award upon the completion of
their service.
Most importantly, these young men and women learn to value their
personal contribution, and the importance of teamwork. They experience
the recognition and pride that comes from making a positive investment
in their community.
A Research-Supported Strategy
In February 1997, Abt Associates published a groundbreaking study,
funded by the Corporation for National and Community Service, on the
value of youth Corps. The study, ``Youth Corps: Promising Practices for
Young People and Their Communities'' used rigorous multi-site random
assignment methodology to document key outcomes, including:
Significant employment and earning gains for young people
who join a Corps;
Positive outcomes that are particularly striking for
young African-American men;
A significant reduction in arrest rates among all
Corpsmembers; and
A significant reduction in the number of unplanned
pregnancies among female Corpsmembers.
The study concludes that, ``Youth Corps are rare among youth-
serving programs in their ability to demonstrate significant and
positive impacts on participants.''
The Public Lands Corps
Background and Examples
For nearly three decades Service and Conservation Corps have worked
in partnership with land management agencies to accomplish important
work on public lands. Like the CCC of the 1930s, they have introduced
young people to the great outdoors and provided them with various
education and economic opportunities.
Presently, the Department of Interior agencies spend between $5-6
million on nearly 200 PLC projects with Corps annually. This investment
in turn, supports nearly 600 corpmembers. Because Corps often bring a
match, as well as unpaid volunteers from local communities, much more
work is actually being supported.
PLC crews do everything from building trails and wheelchair
accessible facilities to providing visitor services and environmental
education to local school children. In recent years, due to an
intentional focus on wildland fire mitigation, many crews have done a
significant amount of hazardous fuels reduction, invasive species
removal, and habitat restoration. Some specific examples of these
projects include:
For over 15 years, the Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) has
partnered with Olympic National Park on a variety of fire abatement
activities. Each year, WCC crews remove hundreds of downed old growth
trees in an effort to reduce fire fuels and increase access.
The California Conservation Corps (CCC), has a dedicated 18-person
fire crew that partners with Whiskey Town National Park located outside
of Redding, CA. For eight years, under the guidance and training of the
National Park Service, this crew has performed controlled burns,
removed hazardous fuels and cuts fuel breaks.
The Southwest Conservation Corps (SCC), based in Durango, CO, works
with Mesa Verde National Park on wildfire mitigation. Mesa Verde has a
significant history of wildfire, especially in recent years. When the
Park needed assistance in removing hazardous fuels from key areas in
advance of the Park's 100th anniversary celebration, the entire SCC
crew received 40 hour chainsaw training and certification
The Coconino Rural Environment Corps (CREC), based in Flagstaff,
AZ, thins hundreds of acres of federal, state, county, city, and
private lands every year. Much of this wood is then turned over to
local Native American communities for firewood.
The Alaska Service Corps (ASC) was tasked with a week-long invasive
removal project in one of Alaska's premiere National Parks, Wrangell
St. Elias. The ASC crew help eradicate White Sea Clover & other
invasive plants from key areas near the Slana Visitor Center. The ASC
crews' efforts allow native plants opportunities to reseed and enhance
the experience for residents and tourists.
The Western Colorado Conservation Corps (WCCC), based in Grand
Junction, Colorado, has been actively involved in Tamarisk removal for
several years. The WCCC has partnered with the Colorado State Parks
Department and the state Division of Wildlife, the Audubon Society, and
the Tamarisk Coalition to control acres of Tamarisk and Russian Olive,
Hounds Tongue, Canada Thistle and other species, as well as 15 miles of
Salsafy, Russian Thistle, and Storks Bill.
The Need for Expansion
Despite all of the important work currently being supported by PLC
funds, much more needs to be done. Estimates of the backlog on public
lands (controlled by both the Department of Interior and the Forest
Service) now reach up to $16 billion. In addition, according to the
Forest Service, nearly 200 million acres of public land are at
increased risk of catastrophic wildfire and according to the Department
of Agriculture, invasive alien plant infestations cover 100 million
acres (an area twice the size of Delaware) and are spreading at a rate
of 14 percent per year. At the same time, a large percent of public
land agency professionals are nearing retirement.
Potential exists in today's young people. They want to give back.
The Southwest Conservation Corps, which received 20 applications a week
in 2008, is receiving 100 applications a week in 2009. The Coconino
Rural Environment Corps is getting three to five times more
applications than it has spaces available. Some of the interest is the
result of high unemployment--but some is the desire to do work that
makes a positive difference for communities and the environment. H.R.
1612 recognizes the need to offer opportunities to those young people,
as well as to those who are part of the high school dropout epidemic.
Nearly one-half of minority students and almost one-third of all
public high school students fail to graduate with their class. Research
strongly suggests that public land opportunities can make a significant
difference for these young people. According to a 2006 report by Civic
Enterprises, The Silent Epidemic: Perspectives of High School Dropouts,
dropouts want ``real world opportunities'' and a more challenging
curriculum to keep them engaged in school. A follow up study, Engaged
for Success, showed that students believe service learning would keep
potential dropouts engaged in school. Our public lands can provide such
experiences for students in underperforming districts.
Engaging these young people, many of them from low-income and
minority communities, can be a way to help to diversify public lands
personnel, to develop the ethic of stewardship among these populations,
and to attract larger numbers of minorities as visitors, enabling them
to embrace their natural patrimony.
Conclusion
The Public Lands Service Corps Act would simultaneously address
these problems as well as others. Expanded authority would enable PLC
work to be done on more public lands. Increased funding would support
many more Corpsmembers, reduce the backlog of deferred maintenance
projects, and help prepare our public lands for the 21st century.
Meanwhile, the Corpsmembers could, in turn, utilize their
AmeriCorps Education awards and the expanded non-competitive hiring
authority contained in this bill to pursue careers in land management--
thus building and diversifying the next generation of the resource
management workforce.
Mr. Chairman, thank you for the opportunity to testify. On behalf
of the entire Corps Network, I again want to express our appreciation
and support for H.R. 1612. We look forward to working with you to see
it enacted into law.
______
STATEMENT OF JAMES CHILDRESS,
CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS OF WEST VIRGINIA
Mr. Childress. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Good afternoon.
First, I would like to thank you for inviting me and allowing
me to be here with you today. My name is James Childress and I
am a corps member with the Citizens Conservation Corps of West
Virginia. Prior to coming to the corps, I was in the wrong
crowd. Smoking, drinking, staying out late and sometimes not
even coming home had me going down a dark path fast.
I found myself at a time not wanting to get up in the
morning. My home life was stressful. My parents were going
through a divorce. My two younger brothers needed somebody to
look to and I was not there. I had just graduated from high
school in Beckley and I needed to figure out what was I going
to do next. A friend of mine from a local church knowing my
situation and wanting to help me avoid a total disaster
suggested I should apply for a position with the corps.
I had thought about the military but I was not ready to
take that step yet and I thought I was needed at home. I joined
the corps in June of 2007, and little did I know what time and
impact it would have on my way of thinking about my future. I
began with the CCCWV working in the New River Gorge National
Park working in teams of four, and sometimes five. Under the
direction of a crew leader we planted trees, maintained many
trails, restored historical buildings and built many bridges.
The following year I was placed on a spray crew. Being on
this crew was a new experience for me but I learned a lot, like
about invasive plants and species and the damage they can cause
the native species and their habitats. I also learned about
pesticides and how to apply them safely. While I was in high
school it became clear that I did not do my best in a
traditional classroom setting, but I was a sight learner, and I
learned best by having people show me because everything I do
at the CCCWV involves hands-on or sight learning and so far I
have been able to excel.
Prior to joining the CCCWV I spent little time outdoors.
Now I love nature. By being in this organization I was able to
see places that many people my age are not able to see today,
and it is important to me and I know how to take care of it.
Before joining the corps the only kind of power tool I have
ever used was a push mower in my front and back yard. I am now
excited if I was to use a chainsaw, pesticide spray, a zero
turn commercial grade lawnmower and other tools.
These certifications and all of this experience will make
me an attractive future to future employers. I have also
developed a number of skills that will help me in the
workforce, such as teamwork, problem solving, personal
responsibility and pride in workmanship. Perhaps, but most
importantly, I have learned a lot more about myself as to what
I like, and what I want to do and what I can achieve if I focus
and push myself to do it.
I am still currently working for the CCCWV and through my
corps service I have successfully earned an Americorps
education award to help me pay for higher education. In the
future, I hope to use that award to study for mechanical
engineering. I have benefitted so much from my experience and
working on the Public Lands Corps projects because I was
challenged and exposed to all kinds of things.
Because of this experience I have now a greater respect for
the natural beauty in or public lands which will make me a
better steward of those lands. I hope that this bill passes so
more young people like me can have the same opportunity. Thank
you.
Mr. Grijalva. Thank you very much. It seems that based on
the experience that the young people that work on this end up
going into mechanical engineering. Let me now pass on Ms. Sally
Jewell, President & CEO, Recreational Equipment, Inc., National
Parks Conservation Association. Thank you for being here and
looking forward to your comments.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Childress follows:]
Statement of James Childress, Civilian Conservation Corps
of West Virginia
Good afternoon,
First I would like to thank you for inviting me and allowing me to
be here today.
My name is James Childress and I am a corps member with the
Citizens Conservation Corps of West Virginia. Prior to coming to the
Corps I was in the wrong crowd. Smoking, drinking, staying out late and
at times not even coming home, had me going down a dark path fast. I
found myself not wanting to get up in the morning, my home life was
stressful, my parents were going through a divorce, my two younger
brothers needed someone to look up to and I was not there for them. I
had just graduated from high school in Beckley and needed to figure out
what I was going to do next. A friend of mine from a local church,
knowing my situation and wanting to help me avoid total disaster;
suggested I apply for a position with the Corps. I had thought about
the military but I was not ready to take that step and I felt I was
needed at home. I joined the Corps in June of 2007 and little did I
know at that time what an impact it would have on my way of thinking
and my future.
I began with the CCCWV working in the New River Gorge National
Park. Working in teams of four and sometimes five, under the direction
of a crew leader, we planted trees, maintained many trails, resorted
historical buildings, and built bridges.
The following year, I was placed on a spray crew. Being on this
crew was a new experience for me, but I learned a lot, like about
invasive species and the damage they can cause to native species and
their habitats. I also learned about pesticides and how to apply them
safely.
While I was in high school, it became clear that I did not do my
best in a traditional classroom setting--I was a sight learner and I
learned best by having people show me. Because everything I do at CCCWV
involves hands on or sight learning, and so far I have been able to
excel.
Prior to joining the CCCWV, I spent little time outdoors. Now I
love nature, and by being in this organization I was able to see places
that many young people my age do not to see and I understand its
importance and I know how to take care of it. Before joining the Corps
the only kind of power tool I had ever used was a push mower on my
front and back yard. I am now certified to use a chain saw, a pesticide
sprayer, a zero-turn commercial grade lawnmower, and other tools. These
certifications and all of this experience will make me attractive to
future employers.
I have also developed a number of skills that will help me in the
work force, such as teamwork, problem solving, personal responsibility,
and pride in workmanship. Perhaps most importantly, I've learned a lot
more about myself--what I like and want to do, and what I can achieve
if I focus and push myself to do it.
I am currently still working for the CCCWV. Through my corps
service have I successfully earned an AmeriCorps Education Award to
help me pay for higher education, and in the future I hope to use that
award to study mechanical engineering.
I have benefitted so much from my experience in working on public
land corps projects because I was challenged and exposed to all kinds
of new things. And because of this experience I now have a greater
respect for the natural beauty in our public lands which will make me a
better steward of those lands. I hope that this bill passes so more
young people like me can have the same opportunity.
Thank you!
______
STATEMENT OF SALLY JEWELL, PRESIDENT & CEO, RECREATIONAL
EQUIPMENT, INC., NATIONAL PARKS CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION
Ms. Jewell. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am a mechanical
engineer, and I am delighted that Marcus and James have picked
that as their profession. It is a great degree. I am here
representing the 340,000 members of the National Parks
Conservation Association, but in my day job as CEO of REI, we
sell a lot of outdoor equipment to people who love and enjoy a
healthy environment for renewal and recreation so this is
tremendously important to us.
I will also say that at REI we work with a lot of nonprofit
organizations, like the Student Conservation Association and
many members of The Corps Network in states across this
country, to do service on public lands. Last year about 1.5
million hours of service on public lands. So these
organizations the young people represented up here are
represented by organizations like them across this country and
the amount of work that they do is nothing short of amazing.
You can go back to our wonderful national park network from
Mt. Rainier National Park in my neck of the woods, to Grand
Canyon, to Shenandoah, and see the work that was done by young
people in the 1930s. You can see it in places like Moran State
Park near me in the San Juan Islands, or even Sherman Rock,
which is a climbing rock built by the Civilian Conservation
Corps in a local city park very close to my house in Seattle.
These kinds of projects connect people for life to the
places. James and I were talking a minute ago, and I saw Marcus
a week and a half ago as we were working on the future of the
national parks, and they both talk about that bridge they built
being their bridge and the connection that you get to that
place that you work on.
Dan Evans, probably the most famous politician ever--sorry,
Jay, you are not there yet, but you will be--from the State of
Washington, three term Governor and replaced Scoop Jackson as
Senator, told me not too long ago that when he drove along I-90
in what we call the Mountains to Sound Greenway he always
looked for his tree. I said your tree? He said, yes. I planted
the tree as a Boy Scout when I was 10 years old and that tree
is now 73 years old.
So stories like that give people a connection to place. I
so appreciate, Chairman Grijalva, you and Chairman Rahall for
introducing this bill and making public lands a part of the
service corps acts that are currently going through, or have
just passed, Congress. My son, Peter, worked for three years as
a volunteer climbing ranger alongside Mike Gauthier, a former
climbing ranger who is actually sitting in the corner of the
room over there.
Mike is on the Bevinetto Fellowship for two years here. His
work in Mt. Rainier National Park engaging young volunteers
changes lives and the budget, and the support for those kinds
of programs do make an enormous difference. So we are in an
interesting time right now with a tough economy, with
increasing levels of unemployment and underemployment, both
young people and older Americans.
We have a dearth of diversity on our public lands, our
public lands are not represented by the people who represent
this country, and we have parks, public lands and open spaces
that are desperately in need of help, and so this bill, I
think, represents a trifecta of opportunity to solve this.
It engages the incredible diversity of this nation by
making a connection to public lands, it provides opportunities
for employment when we really need them, not only for young
people, but also for older Americans who have a tremendous
amount of skill, and labor and love of this land to give back,
and it brings our national parks and our public lands back with
some chronically needed tender loving care. They are in fact
falling apart.
If you prepare for the centennial of our national parks in
2016, there is nothing, I think, that could be more impactful
than putting young people alongside older people to work on
these important places to really start this second century of
the National Park Service in the time when our public lands is
so important on the radar for all Americans. So I appreciate
very much the tremendous effort you have made in putting this
bill forward, and I give it my whole-hearted support and look
forward to helping get it passed. Thank you.
Mr. Grijalva. Thank you. Mr. John Reynolds, Coalition of
National Park Service Retirees. Welcome.
[The prepared statement of Ms. Jewell follows:]
Statement of Sally Jewell, Trustee,
National Parks Conservation Association
Good afternoon. My name is Sally Jewell, and I am pleased to be
invited to testify as a trustee of the National Parks Conservation
Association (NPCA) to discuss H.R. 1612, the Public Lands Service Corps
Act of 2009. For the information of the subcommittee, in addition to my
position as a member of the NPCA Board of Trustees, I am President and
CEO of outdoor retailer Recreational Equipment, Inc., so our National
Park System and public lands have a great deal of significance to me
personally and professionally. As you know, the nonprofit National
Parks Conservation Association has served as the leading citizen voice
on behalf of our national parks since 1919. It is a privilege to be
here today on behalf of NPCA's 340,000 members to express our strong
support for H.R. 1612, the Public Lands Service Corps Act of 2009.
I want to begin by first thanking Chairman Grijalva and Chairman
Rahall for introducing this important legislation. H.R. 1612 seeks to
benefit our national parks and other public lands by unleashing the
spirit and energy of committed Americans who, working with their
government and non-profit organizations, can help our nation capitalize
on the potential for our national parks to produce significant civic
benefits, stimulate local economies, educate Americans about our shared
heritage, and protect our national treasures for the use and enjoyment
of our children and grandchildren. The Act builds upon the Public Land
Corps Act of 1993 by facilitating valuable new service-learning
opportunities, enhancing mechanisms to help restore the nation's
natural, cultural, archaeological, recreational, and scenic resources,
providing for the training of a new generation of public land managers
and enthusiasts, and by promoting the value of community and national
service. H.R. 1612 complements the GIVE Act and Serve America Act,
which passed the House and Senate and is on its way to the President,
which includes a Clean Energy Corps that will work in partnership with
the Public Lands Service Corps.
NPCA has been calling for the creation of a new National Parks
Service Corps in order to foster additional national and community
service in our national parks and help ready the national parks for
another century of service to our nation and the world. H.R. 1612
responds to and expands this vision to include all Interior and
National Forest-managed lands, and areas under the jurisdiction of the
National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration. The legislation also
rounds out the expansion of national and community service under the
GIVE and Serve America Acts with a robust commitment to service that
would help the National Park Service to address the needs of our
national treasures and would foster stronger connections between
national parks, visitors, and our national community.
Enhanced Service Opportunities Help Address Critical Economic Needs
These are challenging times for our National Park System and our
country. This subcommittee is well aware that an annual operating
shortfall, estimated at $750 million, and a maintenance backlog of
approximately $9 billion, continue to undermine the ability of national
park managers to protect the natural and cultural resources in their
charge. We have begun to make some progress in the last couple years,
but there remains much more to do. Furthermore, as our troubled economy
staggers, unemployment rates are continuing to rise.
In February, nationwide unemployment reached 8.1%, with youth
unemployment at 21%. Unemployment rates for African-American youth
hovered around 39%, with rates for Hispanic and Latino youth at about
25%--both up 7 points from February 2008. Unemployment rates for
college graduates are increasing significantly, as they are with
Americans over age 55. National service cannot cure these problems.
However, the tight job market, coupled with the president's call for
people to serve, is already creating tremendous demand for meaningful
service opportunities, and H.R. 1612 can provide such opportunities in
a manner that helps address continuing, significant needs on our public
lands. Such levels of unemployment remind us of the days of the Great
Depression, when Franklin Roosevelt created the Civilian Conservation
Corps to marry two destabilized resources--young men out of work and
school and diminished natural resources on our public lands and in
agriculture.
In tough economic times, our nation has mobilized millions of
people to conserve and protect its most vital resources, producing
lasting benefits for society and providing individuals with
opportunities and new skills. The Public Lands Service Corps can do
this and more, by employing people from the most vulnerable sectors of
our economy in jobs that would enhance their future employability,
invigorating them with an enhanced sense of civic pride, and supporting
President Obama's call for people to serve.
American Public Supports Service in Our National Parks, Public Lands
The American people are ready for this kind of commitment.
Americans strongly support our national parks, and want to engage in
their protection. In fact, an extensive poll by Peter D. Hart Research
Associates and McLaughlin & Associates, which NPCA commissioned in
2008, found that more than four in five voters believe that it is
important for the federal government to protect and support national
parks and national historic places. That poll also found significant
concern about the failure of funding of our national parks to keep up
with what's needed, the shortage of needed staff at parks and historic
sites, and the need to be sure parks could serve school groups.
Finally, it showed that more than 1 out of every 3 Americans are
motivated to roll up their sleeves and get involved--a tremendous
finding for a poll of this type, and one that shows the continuing
affection of our society for our national treasures.
NPCA has called for the addition of at least 10,000 new, full-time
equivalent service positions to be devoted to work in our national
parks within the next few years, through an expansion of the Public
Land Service Corps and through a cooperative agreement between the
Department of the Interior and the Corporation for National and
Community Service. H.R. 1612 broadens this vision to also include other
public lands, and we support that breadth so as to provide a broader
geographic distribution of service opportunities and to help address
needs and opportunities on all public lands--as long as it maintains
the commitment to our national heritage.
Service in Public Lands Improves Individual Lives, Communities,
National Heritage
NPCA believes that service legislation relating to our national
parks should focus on five basic principles: (1) addressing resource
protection and fiscal needs in the parks; (2) enhancing multi-
generational service opportunities; (3) building strong community
partnerships; (4) developing the next generation of diverse National
Park Service leaders; and (5) a strong emphasis on cultural, historic,
and civic impacts. H.R. 1612 takes important steps in this direction,
and we have several modest suggestions to make it even stronger.
With the addition of significantly more service employment
opportunities in national parks, along with supervisory capacity for
the National Park Service, we can make genuine headway on a variety of
maintenance and conservation-related projects. For example, service and
volunteerism are ideally suited to projects designed to eradicate many
invasive species, replant native vegetation, and control erosion. The
human power brought to bear under the Civilian Conservation Corps in
the 1930s, when CCC participants planted over 3 billion trees and built
over 97,000 miles of roads in national parks and on public lands
throughout the nation, provides a compelling example. Service Corps
members can rehabilitate campgrounds and deteriorating structures
throughout the National Park System, renovate and help maintain
historic sites, and help conduct natural and cultural resource
management, science and research projects. In addition, the Act
provides an important focus on marine resources and climate change.
By expanding the potential duration of service corps participation
to two years, H.R. 1612 enhances the ability of the National Park
Service to manage and capitalize on the opportunities service presents
through fostering non-episodic volunteering to the greatest extent
possible. The GIVE Act and its Senate counterpart, the Serve America
Act, are designed to with the goal of fostering long-term, consistent
service work, and H.R. 1612 can accomplish the same. That means
fostering service work that lasts more than a couple days. The longer
individuals serve, the more highly trained they may become. This means
greater impact on parks and communities, both over the short- and long-
term. In addition, service corps participants can and should leverage
and help manage additional volunteerism. To the extent such individuals
can be trained to coordinate additional volunteers, the service corps
will facilitate even more community engagement capacity than stipended
corps members, alone, will provide.
Many community organizations, including those testifying today,
have excellent track records running programs that provide supervised
opportunities for many weeks or months. Their capacity and
infrastructure are also scalable, allowing them to ramp up the number
of participants in the service corps without the need for costly new
bureaucracy. In addition, some also run residential operations, and
could do so at some facilities rehabilitated in the national parks for
this purpose.
It is hard to overemphasize the effect service can have on the
lives of those who undertake it, not to mention the people and
resources who directly benefit from it. The youth of today are in
danger of becoming the most disconnected generation from nature in our
history as a nation. They are not benefiting from the magic of national
parks and other natural areas that comes from experiencing them first-
hand. There are many reasons for this: over-scheduling of activities,
economics, the decline in the time families have to travel, lack of
outside play, and more. But when young people are given an opportunity
to work in a park, they develop a very deep sense of ownership and
connection to that place, to other national parks, and to the natural
world, as well as experience many other benefits.
A few years ago, Washington State's former governor and senator,
Dan Evans, told me how he always looks for ``his tree'' when he drives
along I-90 in the Mountains to Sound Greenway. He planted that tree as
a boy scout at 10 years old and the tree is now 73 years old. To me,
that is a powerful example of the strong connectedness we feel when we
work on behalf a special place. There are countless other stories of
those who have undertaken some form of service work, from the bonds
participants in the Civilian Conservation Corps forged with our
national parks and forests, to the volunteers who already give of
themselves to make our national parks what they ought to be.
Nearly 170,000 people volunteer to work for the Park Service each
year. The hours these individuals render and the contributions they
make are of an invaluable service to our national parks, and yield
tremendous pride and connectedness to our parks and to our country.
Yet, when parks lack sufficient funding, they often find themselves
without the staff to recruit, train, and manage volunteers. Leveraging
additional volunteer support and engagement is exactly the kind of
utility that Public Lands Service Corps members, once trained, could
bring to the National Park Service, the Forest Service, and NOAA. It is
also fundamentally important that adequate funding and support
personnel be provided to ensure that component of the Service Act
succeeds.
One way to augment this capacity, and an opportunity for enhancing
H.R. 1612, relates to so-called ``experienced Americans.'' H.R. 1612
attempts to get at this through a new mentorship authorization, which
we strongly support. Encouraging older Americans like Volunteers in
Parks, military retirees and veterans to help train service corps
members and lead crews will tap the know-how of many thousands of able
individuals who have much to contribute. Yet, we see additional
opportunity to encourage service work by experienced Americans.
AARP recently commissioned a report, entitled More to Give, which
details the tremendous untapped potential of older Americans for
service. An extensive survey of 44-79 year olds, whom the survey dubbed
``experienced Americans'', found that ``55 percent believe they will
leave the world in worse condition than they inherited it, while only
20 percent believe they are leaving the world in better condition.'' It
also found that those most engaged in volunteer work feel more
optimistic about the future. The survey also found that financial
wherewithal can be an important barrier to older Americans serving as
volunteers.
As is the case with youth, stipends can enable older Americans to
serve. In addition, according to the survey, ``more than half of all
Experienced Americans (51 percent), including 55 percent of Baby
Boomers, said that education awards they can earn and give to a child
in exchange for significant levels of volunteer service would have a
big or moderate impact on their participation in volunteer
activities.'' Such incentives were particularly appealing to Hispanics
and African-Americans.
As a consequence, the GIVE and Serve America Acts authorized a
transferable education award for older Americans who participate in 1-
year ``Encore Fellowships'' to carry out projects in areas of national
need. Fellowships go to individuals 55 and older who engage in full- or
part-time service in the nonprofit sector or government, and are
designed to capitalize on the additional skills set and experience that
participants have to offer. NPCA believes that the Public Lands Service
Corps Act should encourage greater participation among older Americans,
including eligibility for Encore Fellowships or some other means of
making transferable education awards available to them, which they can
use themselves or transfer to a grandchild. The existing law already
provides for AmeriCorps education awards in approved Public Land Corps
positions. The addition of an Encore-like provision would ensure that
the Public Lands Service Corps tracks the opportunities that are being
made available in other national volunteer programs. Importantly, the
More to Give survey showed ``volunteer senior ranger'' to be among the
most popular volunteer activities for Experienced Americans. When asked
what kind of service they would like to do, millions of Experienced
Americans chose serving in our national parks.
The Public Lands Service Corps Act clearly contemplates valuable
service learning opportunities--an emphasis NPCA strongly supports.
Nonetheless, we would also like to see this role further emphasized.
Providing for greater participation of experienced Americans, together
with the creative deployment of younger participants, creates
additional opportunity to enhance service learning capacity and
opportunities in national parks. For example, the service corps should
be expected to foster the greater use of service-learning projects
linked to classroom learning in history, biology and civics. While the
authorization contemplates a preference for service learning
activities, it should be made clear that such efforts are a central
purpose of the service corps, in addition to its important resource
protection and restoration mandates. In addition, the law can provide
for greater use of service corps participants in serving the public.
While NPCA agrees that individuals without sufficient training should
not be providing interpretation that should be provided by experts, it
is important to provide a reasonable measure of flexibility in
appropriate circumstances.
NPCA also believes that the bill's well-intended restrictions on
how service corps participants can engage in interpretation-related
activities go a bit too far. We agree that interpretive programs should
be conducted by trained professionals, and we support the bill's
reference to properly supervised corps members providing orientation
and information services, and playing other appropriate interpretive
roles. Something that is not apparent from the language of the bill,
however, is the degree to which service corps members would be
authorized to reach out to schools and afterschool and youth-serving
community-based organizations, provided they are properly supervised.
Clearly, there is no substitute for trained Park Service personnel.
However, the service corps can do more to augment that capacity. Some
older members of the corps may very well have training that could be
capitalized upon, rather than artificially restricted. In addition, by
expanding the breadth of participation for older Americans in this
area, H.R. 1612 could further enhance capacity and service. In
addition, we suggest that the bill be amended to encourage the use of
appropriately trained service corps members for multilingual services
to visitors and outreach to diverse communities.
Among the most important elements of the Public Lands Service Corps
for the National Park Service is its placement and training provisions.
First, as the organization that worked to initiate business planning
within the national parks in the late 1990s, we are very pleased to see
the consulting intern provision, which placement of graduate students
to continue that program, which is now run through a partnership
between the National Park Service and the Student Conservation
Association. Well-trained consulting interns can provide useful
assistance in areas beyond business planning as well, given the
increasing demand for highly technical work in a variety of fields
within the National Park Service.
Second, the Park Service needs to replace retiring personnel with a
high diversity of individuals, in order for the parks to adequately
serve an increasingly diverse national community. The Act provides an
important means to diversify the ranks of the National Park Service by
recruiting and training individuals from a variety of backgrounds. The
Act requires the National Park Service and other federal agencies to
augment the training corps participants receive from nonprofit partners
with appropriate training in resource stewardship, health & safety,
ethics for public service, teamwork and leadership, and interpersonal
communications. Corps members would also receive instruction about the
agency's core values, history, and standards for natural and cultural
resource preservation. NPCA wholeheartedly supports these training
provisions, as well as providing noncompetitive hiring status for up to
two years after completion of service for qualified candidates. We do
suggest, however, that the bill be clarified to ensure the contemplated
training requirement, in fact, augments rather than replaces the other
high quality training participants receive.
Finally, we are pleased that H.R. 1612 increases the prominence of
service work related to historic and cultural resources. NPCA strongly
believes that national service in our national parks should be
sufficiently broad to encompass the tremendous civic, historical, and
scientific resources and learning opportunities that our national parks
have to offer. H.R. 1612 makes it clear that projects related to
history and culture should have a prominent role in service corps
efforts, including historical and cultural research, museum curatorial
work, oral history projects and other cultural and historic
preservation activities. In light of the significant backlog of
archival work in the National Park System, we also suggest adding
``archival work'' to the list of referenced activities. In addition, we
suggest that the bill be modified to refer to the ``heritage'' mission
of the National Park Service, in addition to the ``public lands''
mission.
Mr. Chairman, the end of my written testimony includes several
specific recommendations related to the issues I have raised, for the
benefit of the committee. NPCA again wishes to thank you for
introducing this important legislation, and to offer our assistance as
the bill moves through the legislative process. Thank you once again
for the opportunity to testify today.
Specific Recommendations
Purpose Section: Add references to ``heritage agencies''
in (5) and (6)
Purpose Section: add ``and other'' after ``conservation''
in (5)
Purpose Section: Expand (6) to read, ``help promote
public understanding and appreciation of the individual missions and
work of the respective land management agencies, through training
opportunities, service-learning, community outreach, and other
appropriate means
Residential Conservation Centers: Clarify the ability to
partner with nonprofit service organizations to run the centers, and
provide for placement on and outside public lands where appropriate
Training: Clarify that training established by the
Secretary supplements training provided by private sector partners
Interpretation: Authorize corps participants to conduct
appropriately supervised outreach to schools and afterschool and youth-
serving community-based organizations
Interpretation: add multilingual services to list of
authorized activities
Mentors: Expand participation of older Americans beyond
what is contemplated in the mentorship section, either by changing
overall age eligibility for the corps or through greater leveraging of
Volunteers in Parks or Senior Corps. Authorize ``Encore Fellowships''
with transferrable education awards for participants 55 and older.
Cultural Resources: Add archival work to list of
authorized activities
______
STATEMENT OF JOHN REYNOLDS,
COALITION OF NATIONAL PARK SERVICE RETIREES
Mr. Reynolds. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Bill Wade sends his
personal regards. Thank you for holding this hearing and for
inviting the Coalition of National Park Service Retirees to
testify. My name is John Reynolds, I am a landscape architect.
I am a member of the coalition having served nearly 40 years
with the National Park Service, including in positions as Park
Superintendent, Regional Director and Deputy Director.
Since retirement, I have served on the boards of directors
of the Student Conservation Association and Yosemite National
Institutes, both serving young people in parks and other public
lands. I currently am retained by the Student Conservation
Association as an advisor. Dale is my boss. I am also through
the National Parks Conservation Association a contract advisor
to the Connecting People and Parks Committee of the National
Parks Second Century Commission. Sally is my boss.
Mr. Chairman, I will summarize my testimony and have
submitted the full testimony for the record. Today you have
brought before us an opportunity to combine some of the very
best of American ideals into one very important act, an act
that will benefit the nation's treasured lands and which will
inspire and empower people who have inherited these lands as
either their birth right or as a result of choosing citizenship
in this nation.
The National Park Service from its very beginning in 1916
has benefitted greatly from service by individuals to their
nation. The service has also seen itself from that time
beginning as important in the education of the American people.
This act will serve to make the traditions of the service's
past even more relevant to the needs of today and the future.
Some have called the national parks the best idea America
ever had because of our nation's democratic impulse to save
these parks for all of us regardless of who we are or where we
are from. Today, the need to provide opportunity to connect
Americans in the places they live to the richness of our
national parks, public lands and cultural heritage is ever more
evident.
This act will be a permanent beneficial bridge between
Americans and their nation. This bill is thoughtfully crafted.
In my written testimony I list many provisions that the
coalition wants especially to support, but which I will not now
enumerate. The coalition wishes by that testimony to help
ensure that these provisions are retained when this bill is
enacted into law.
The coalition requests that the Committee entertain the
following possible additional amendments: 1] agency needs for
multilingual front line assistants and qualified assistants in
classrooms or outdoor learning programs be specifically
included; 2] specific authorization for operation of
residential centers by qualified, experienced nonprofit
organizations; 3] addition of agency retirees to the mentoring
program; 4] provision made for certain older Americans to
serve, as well as youths; and 5] experience over the last
several years in obtaining approval of a cooperative agreements
in many agencies has been very discouraging to nonprofit
partners with long, some over 50 years, and productive
relationships with agencies.
The enormous time and effort spent with lawyers and
contracting officers has meant large outlays of money and time
by nonprofit personnel. Agencies have had to waste precious
funds and time detracting from their corps missions. This
debilitating and detrimental condition still exists. It has the
potential to create difficulties in implementation of this act.
Section 206 could be greatly strengthened and efficient
implementation materially improved by adding the following
language: The Secretary is authorized to enter into cooperative
agreements noncompetitively with the Student Conservation
Association, conservation corps, or any other qualified
nonprofit organizations, to perform any authorized function or
purpose of the Department and its bureaus if the agreement
will: 1] serve a mutual interest of the parties to the
agreement in carrying out the programs administered by the
Department; and 2] all parties contribute resources to the
accomplishment of these programs.
Both fairness and efficiency can, and need, be achieved.
The coalition is deeply appreciative of the work of the
Committee and its staff in preparing this bill. The benefits
which will accrue to members of the corps, to the national
parks, other public lands and to the Nation itself though
difficult to quantify are truly important to our entire
society.
This bill positively affects the future of our youth and
may well contribute to the future of their families. In so
doing, it will be the nation, our society and our environment
which will benefit from the investments made in the men and
women who will have the opportunity of their lifetime. In
summary, lives will be more joyful and productive, character
will be honed, America will benefit.
The testimony of Marcus and James is the most crucial of
all. It is for their future and future generations that this
bill is for. The Coalition of National Park Service Retirees is
honored to have been asked to testify today, stands ready to
assist and looks forward to the enactment of this bill. The
coalition strongly and enthusiastically supports it. Thank you
very much.
[The prepared statement of Mr. Reynolds follows:]
Statement of John J. Reynolds on behalf of
The Coalition of National Park Service Retirees
Mr. Chairman and other distinguished Members of the Subcommittee:
thank you for holding this hearing on H.R. 1612, the Public Land Corps
Service Act of 2009, and for inviting the Coalition of National Park
Service Retirees to testify on this Act. We are deeply appreciative of
the opportunity, and of your commitment to this Act.
The Coalition now consists of more than 700 individuals, all former
employees of the National Park Service, with more joining us regularly.
Together we bring to this hearing over 21,000 years of accumulated
experience. Many of us were senior leaders and many received awards for
stewardship of our country's natural and cultural resources and making
them available to people for their enjoyment. As rangers, executives,
park managers, biologists, historians, interpreters, planners and
specialists in other disciplines, we devoted our professional lives to
maintaining and protecting the national parks for the benefit of all
Americans--those now living and those yet to be born. In our personal
lives we come from a broad spectrum of political affiliations and we
count among our members four former Directors or Deputy Directors of
the National Park Service, twenty-three former Regional Directors or
Deputy Regional Directors, twenty-eight former Associate or Assistant
Directors and over one hundred and seventy former Park Superintendents
or Assistant Superintendents; as well as a large number of other former
employees, including seasonal employees.
I am a member of the Coalition, having served nearly 40 years with
the National Park Service including in positions as park
superintendent, regional director and deputy director. Since retirement
I have served on the Boards of Directors of the Student Conservation
Association (SCA) and Yosemite National Institutes, both serving young
people in parks and other public lands. I currently am retained by SCA
as an advisor.
The National Park Service, from its very beginning in 1916 has
benefited greatly from service by individuals to their nation. The
Service has also seen itself from that same beginning as important in
the education of the American people. This Act will serve to make the
traditions of the Service's past even more relevant to the needs of
today and the future.
Our nation finds itself today working to address many crisis--
environmental, economic and educational among them. It is also a time
in our history when young people have often grown up with little
opportunity for connection to either the outdoors or to our common
history. Nor has personal service to the nation been at the forefront
of the lives of most of them. Yet, today, you have brought before us an
opportunity to combine some of the very best of American ideals into
one very important Act, an Act that will benefit the national parks and
other public lands. In addition, it will inspire and empower people who
have inherited these same lands as either their birthright or as a
result of choosing citizenship in this nation.
Some have called the national parks ``The Best Idea America Ever
Had.'' It has been labeled so not because of the wonderful natural,
scenic, historic or recreational resources which comprise the parks,
but because of our nation's democratic impulse to save these parks for
all of us, regardless of who we are or where we are from. Today, the
need to provide meaningful opportunity to connect Americans in the
places they live to the richness of our national parks, public lands
and waters and cultural heritage is ever more evident. This Act will be
a permanent, beneficial bridge between Americans and their nation.
The National Park Service has valued the service of the members of
the Public Land Corps since the Corps' inception. It has been a natural
marriage of ideals held dear in our nation--preservation of the finest
of our patrimony combined with service and opportunity for education
which will further benefit both the individual and the nation for years
beyond the service given.
This bill, H.R. 1612, is an excellent bill. Its enactment with a
few amendments will provide important assistance to the National Park
Service as it carries out its mission in the future.
The Coalition wants especially to support the following provisions
in the bill, and wishes by this testimony to help ensure that they are
included in the ensuing public law when it is finally enacted:
1. The amendments to Sec. 202(a) and 202(b) which recognize the
equality of importance of work relating both to natural and cultural
resources. Our national patrimony as included in the National Park
System and other public lands is comprised of both, and both are
important to our national fabric.
2. The amendments Sections 202(a)(4) and (5), which recognize and
elucidate the value of national service to the participants themselves
and the potential benefits to communities.
3. The amendment at Section 204(b) extending the service time to
up to two years.
4. The amendments adding Section 202(b)(5) which recognizes the
importance of seeking participants from diverse backgrounds and (6)
which promotes public appreciation of the work of federal land, coastal
and ocean management agencies.
5. The amendment of the definition in Section 203 to expand the
inclusiveness of the kinds of projects that are appropriate under this
Act.
6. The amendment that expands the definition of ``public lands''
in Section 203.
7. The amendments which add the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration in the Department of Commerce to the coverage of this
Act, and specifically referencing ``the National Marine Sanctuary
System, coral reefs, and other coastal, estuarine and marine
habitats'', all of which are important to the success of the mission of
the National Park Service.
8. The amendments in Section 204 which relate to recruitment and
training. It is highly commendable that the committee has included the
requirements that training standards include, in addition to resource
stewardship and health and safety, ethics, teamwork, leadership, and
interpersonal communications as hallmarks for future civic
responsibility of participants in the Public Land Corps, and that
participants understand the history, core values and management
policies and standards of the agency for which they are providing
service.
9. The amendments at Section 205(f) relating to the use of
mentors from agency programs, veterans groups, military retirees and
active duty personnel.
10. The amendment adding Section 206(a)(2) authorizing
``consulting interns'' is of great value to the National Park Service.
Internships and volunteerism have long been primarily related to
physical labor kinds of work, which has been appropriate and remains
necessary. However, as management of national parks and other public
lands and waters has matured over the years, the need for highly
educated, intellectual work has increased dramatically in all fields.
The specific recognition of that essential need through the
authorization of ``consulting interns'' in this legislation is to be
commended.
11. The amendment at Section 206(b)(2) authorizing implementation
of the recruitment and placement requirements of carrying out the
provisions of this Act through the use of qualified nonprofit
organizations is crucial to effectively finding and placing highly
qualified, diverse participants.
The Coalition requests the Committee to entertain possible
additional amendments, as follows:
1. Section 204: The Coalition is mindful that older Americans may
wish to provide service and acquire educational opportunity which they
may not previously have had. Therefore, the Coalition suggests that
provision be made for older Americans to serve as well as youth.
2. Section 204: The national parks, and other public lands
agencies, need front line individuals who are multilingual. They also
need well qualified people to assist in classroom or outdoor learning
programs. The Coalition suggests that these needs be recognized in the
final legislation by specific mention of them in the Interpretation or
Visitor Services subsections.
3. Section 205: The Coalition suggests that the legislation should
specifically authorize operation of residential centers by qualified,
experienced nonprofit organizations, such as the Student Conservation
Association.
4. Section 205(f): The Coalition suggests that the committee add
authorization of the use of agency retirees to the mentoring program
authorized in this section, noting that the Coalition of NPS Retirees
could help facilitate recruitment of such mentors from its membership.
5. Experience over the last several years in obtaining approval of
cooperative agreements in many agencies has been discouraging, at best,
to a wide array of nonprofit partners with long and productive
relationships with agencies. The enormous time and effort spent with
lawyers and contracting officers has meant large outlays of money and
time by nonprofit personnel. Similarly, agencies have had to use
precious funds and time themselves that could have been used for more
productive purposes. This condition has operated to the detriment of
the missions of both the nonprofit partners and the agencies. This
situation still exists and has the potential to create difficulties in
implementation of this Act. The Coalition suggests, therefore, that
Section 206 of the legislation could be greatly strengthened and the
efficient implementation of the Act materially improved by adding the
following language:
``The Secretary is authorized to enter into cooperative
agreements noncompetitively with the Student Conservation
Association or any other qualified nonprofit organization to
perform any authorized function or purpose of the Department
and its bureaus, if the agreement will: (1) serve a mutual
interest of the parties to the agreement in carrying out the
programs administered by the department; and (2) all parties
contribute resources to the accomplishment of these programs.''
In addition, the Act could be strengthened, when contracting is
needed, by directing the Secretary to use efficient sole source
acquisition methods when the Secretary can demonstrate that there is
only one organization qualified to do the job required.
The Committee could also help insure that unnecessary and unduly
burdensome acquisition procedures not be imposed in carrying out the
provisions of this Act by writing report language clearly specifying
the intent of the Committee (and ultimately the Congress) in these
regards. It is the experience of the Coalition that contracting
officers and agency attorneys often opt for the most complex approaches
rather than the using those that are most efficient, while ensuring
fairness to all.
The foregoing listing of exemplary benefits to the national parks
and other public lands agencies is not exhaustive. This initial bill is
exceptionally well written, and the Coalition is deeply appreciative of
the work of the Committee and its staff in preparing it.
The benefits which will accrue to the national parks, to the other
public lands, to the participants in the Corps and to the nation itself
are difficult to quantify. They are, however, truly important, and will
run through our entire society. As others are testifying, young people
today are in a unique and not entirely favorable situation. The
opportunity inherent in this bill greatly affects their future, and may
well contribute to the future of their families. In so doing, it will
be the nation, our society and our environment which will benefit the
most from the investments made in the young men and women who will have
the opportunity of their lifetime as a result of this bill. The
national parks will benefit greatly, as will the other public lands.
Such benefit will not accrue only in the short term of each Corps
member's service, but in the long term as well. In summary, lives will
be more joyful and productive, character will be honed, America will
benefit.
Thank you for the opportunity to participate in the Committee's
inspired action to support both national service and the public lands,
including the national parks, through this bill, H.R. 1612. The
Coalition of National Park Service Retirees is honored to have been
asked to testify today, stands ready to assist your efforts in this
regard in any way which we can, and looks forward to the enactment of
this bill.
______
Mr. Grijalva. Thank you. Thank all of you for your
comments. Let me begin with you, if I may, Mr. Reynolds. Among
the amendments that the coalition suggested is the one to make
it possible for older Americans, as well as youth, to serve in
the Public Lands Service Corps. We accomplish that how? Would
you suggest that we keep any mention of a target age out of the
legislation or continue to have that target age of 16 to 25 as
still part of the legislation?
Mr. Reynolds. Mr. Chairman, I would suggest that we keep
the target age, but in addition, add opportunities for older
Americans who had never had the opportunity to go on to school
to be able to qualify under certain circumstances. We would be
more than willing to help work on trying to define what that
means.
Mr. Grijalva. OK. Thank you. We look forward to that
discussion. The intent is that target age but I think your
point is well-taken about the mentoring and the possibility of
some cross-generational understanding that we need very
desperately as well, and so your point is well-taken. I look
forward to discussing that point with you.
Mr. Reynolds. Thank you.
Mr. Grijalva. I know, Ms. Jewell, you have to get going to
catch----
Ms. Jewell. I am OK for now.
Mr. Grijalva. OK. I was going to ask Mr. Childress a
question, if I may. Thank you for your comments and sharing
your experiences with us. Chairman of the full Committee, Mr.
Rahall, is unable to be here. He wanted to make sure that I
extended his welcome to you. Beckley is his home town also, and
he asked me to extend his best wishes. The New River Gorge
National Park is also very near and dear to the Chairman. He
welcomes you, and he said it is good to have a hometown boy in
the house, so he is happy.
You know, you mentioned your two brothers as part of the
discussion, I think. Do you think your siblings, and I am going
to ask the same question to all of you, watching you going
through this program and the experience that you have gone
through with the corps, what effect has it had on them?
Mr. Childress. The effect it has on them is back then they
looked at me as somebody to look up to during our hard time,
and now that I have been in the corps, they are looking at me
now like, hey, I could actually look up to him and do something
with my life instead of being here like many other children.
I think through this corps it is going to help my two
brothers learn that there is more out there than just sitting
inside playing video games all day, which, I mean, it is not
bad, but sometimes we have to go outside and do stuff, and
learn to work, and learn responsibility and put with teamwork.
So I am thinking by me doing this it is showing them that there
is something outside of just sitting in the house all day.
Mr. Grijalva. After you complete your college education, do
you see yourself pursuing a career in the National Park Service
public land area?
Mr. Childress. After I finish I want to attend the
military, but outside of that, I want to still help outside
national park and everything and help pursue in the Public
Lands Corps if that is able to me to be able to help them.
Mr. Grijalva. Thank you very much. Ms. Prouty, I understand
that many corps members do not work full-time because, you
know, they can't afford to or prefer not to go too far from
home. This is one of the critical populations that we hope to
capture with this legislation, as you know. Do you have any
concerns that the preferential hiring language requiring 960
hours of service might be a disincentive to some members that
would want to participate? If so, do you have any suggestions
about how to deal with that concern?
Ms. Prouty. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. That is a concern for
us. I would say that all of our corps are full-time, but they
are for varying lengths of time. So some are a short number of
weeks or months so that getting to the 960 hours is not
possible for them. I would really appreciate the opportunity
for us to work with you to think about whether there is a
tiered opportunity within the noncompetitive hire which for
lesser number of hours.
Many of our young people would be qualified for entry-level
jobs that would not be ready for more advanced positions with
Federal agencies, so we appreciate the chance to work with you
on that.
Mr. Grijalva. OK. Just a quick follow-up. In your testimony
you list a very impressive list of achievement of the service
corps. Just for the sake of my understanding, what do you think
of the program? Is it a land management program? Is it a human
resource development program? Is it an intervention program for
at risk kids? I mention that because it is rare to have
something as successful having all those ingredients. If you
were to classify it or put a definition on it, what would it
be?
Ms. Prouty. Well, it would be all of the above. It is
interesting, we have wonderful corps that have college
students, college graduates, SCA and a number of others. We
also have corps that are fully concentrated on young people who
are not making it in their community. We have corps that
concentrate on young people who have been formerly incarcerated
and Court involved.
So we have two areas in which we feel strongly about
evaluation and one is in member development, and it is member
development based on the point of entry, and the other is
impact in the community and the environment. We see corps as
unique to the communities in which they live and breathe. They
have grown up in communities, they are different and they set
their own standards for enrollment. We see benefit across the
board, and most dramatic benefit in terms of education and
workforce development is for those who come in at a much lower
level.
Mr. Grijalva. Thank you. Let me thank you for your comments
today. Also, Mr. Hendricks, let me follow-up and thank you as
well for being here and sharing your experiences with us. Let
me follow-up on the question that I asked Mr. Childress. When
you are done with the career goal that you have to finish
college do you see park service, public lands service as
potentially a career down the road?
Mr. Hendricks. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I initially intend
to be a medical doctor once I graduate and also have my
mechanical engineering degree to be a source of education where
I can do some research in space propulsion since that is
another big interest of mine. However, I don't intend to be a
medical doctor----
Mr. Grijalva. However.
Mr. Hendricks.--and an engineer forever. It would be nice
to be able to find a quiet job working in a national or a state
park as I get to my gray years. And to also answer your earlier
question of my siblings being inspired by the work I do----
Mr. Grijalva. Yes?
Mr. Hendricks.--my sister is interested in working with the
SCA. It is going to be hard convincing her that she can work
with the SCA and have a fun summer instead of doing something
else and earning money to pay for an iPod, for example. Thank
you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Grijalva. Thank you. Mr. Penny, your suggestion that
the legislation potentially could go further, you know, to fund
local training programs, city/county parks, I am assuming you
would include state parks in that example.
Mr. Penny. Right.
Mr. Grijalva. What role do you envision then for the
Federal government in this more collaborative effort that you
are suggesting?
Mr. Penny. Well, thank you for the question, and, yes, I
do. What we have found is that one of the great things about
young people in urban centers is that they are more drawn to
conserve their own land than they are to go onto Federal lands.
I think all of the bureaus, all of the agencies are going to
help diversify their workforce and represent and be friendly to
diverse populations. We need to find some way to extend the
reach beyond the park boundaries and into communities.
So what we see is collaborating with organizations, like
SCA, the various conservation corps, and seeking matching
funds, and if the Federal government could help provide
training programs for young people once they have gone through
a certain level of program in their local community, if the
Park Service, for instance, would then provide those students
with a secondary experience on the Federal lands then help them
qualify for preferential hiring, then I think we could more
readily attract more diverse young people into Federal lands
and public lands.
Mr. Grijalva. I have completely gone way over the time
before they call us to vote again, but in going way over time I
have been neglectful of my two colleagues that are here as
well. One more question. Ms. Jewell, you talked about the need
for experienced folk to be part of the corp.
Ms. Jewell. Correct.
Mr. Grijalva. How do you envision this process? Is that a
training capacity, mentoring capacity or participant capacity?
Ms. Jewell. Well, it could be all of the above but I was
thinking of it in terms of a participant capacity, and I will
give you some great examples. REI's oldest employee is 92, our
youngest employee is 16. Our 92 year old employee works on the
sales floor in Reno, Nevada, and there isn't a service project
that that store does out in the community that Mountain Bob,
our 92 year old, isn't a part of.
I think what we have found, and this is true when we work
outdoors with, for example, Earth Corps or the Washington
Trails Association, you frequently have experienced Americans
working alongside young people and the richness of exchange is
amazing. So I would say it is at a participant capacity, but
you also have skills that have been learned over a lifetime
that can be applied and so it could also be in training. We see
that at both ends.
Mr. Grijalva. I will follow-up on another question, we
would like to get it in writing for the Committee, having to do
with the issue of flexibility in a schedule, because I try to
accommodate both participant, experienced folk as part of the
corps, and I am glad. I think that age mixture is good, and
when Dr. Hendricks retires there will be a place for him in the
corps. Let me now turn to Ms. Bordallo for any questions. Thank
you for being patient.
Ms. Bordallo. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity.
I want to thank all the witnesses here. I was very interested
in listening to your statements, and I especially enjoyed
hearing the testimonies of Marcus and James. You know, when you
think about it, programs like these can make such a difference
in your life.
I speak to students about careers on many occasions and I
always say what you have in mind may not be in your earlier
years what you really are going to end up doing. It may even
have something to do with someone you married. I married a
politician so that is why I am here today. I truly appreciate,
you know, all of the volunteers and what they are doing in this
program.
Mr. Chairman, I applaud you for sponsoring this bill. I
want to ask the young men first, what do we need to have in
this program to make it as attractive as possible to the young
people? How do we go about doing outreach? Advertising? I mean,
are we doing enough? So I will begin with you, Marcus.
Mr. Hendricks. Sure. Thank you. I think that one great way
to reach young people is to provide an incentive. A lot of
young people are interested in being independent, and one way
that they can be independent is to have their own source of
money.
Now, I also think that a lot of people are interested in
working in public lands for the betterment of their community
in order to improve the lands as they are or to create a sense
of community responsibility to take care of the national
environment that they live in, and I think there is a lot more
that you can do than to just give students money.
You can also in terms of advertising reach out to a lot of
high school students because high school students are looking
forward to going to college, and they also have to face that
decision what are they going to do with the next, 40, 50, 60
years of their life? If you start marketing to them when they
are in their sophomore or junior year when they are making the
decisions about where they want to go to college and what they
want to do, then that is when you can----
Ms. Bordallo. So perhaps this legislation should address
that, Mr. Chairman, as well as to do a little more marketing
for this program so that, you know, now these students, their
siblings know about it, but how do we outreach to the rest?
James, do you have any comments on that?
Mr. Childress. Yes. Just like Marcus said, the same thing.
I have a brother that is about to graduate high school and so
by me being in this he is wanting to do the same thing. It is a
way to be independent, too, and make sure he is going on the
right path, like I am. So by advertising this out to younger
students, especially from their sophomore year, if we get to
them now, there is a better chance that they will probably
change their whole career outlook and the rest of their life.
Ms. Bordallo. Thank you, thank you. Now, I have question
for Mr. Penny. H.R. 1612 would amend the Public Lands Corps Act
to allow the United States Fish & Wildlife Service to
participate as an eligible bureau under the Public Lands Corps
Act. Now, I believe this is a very excellent idea. As you may
be aware, two other separate laws facilitate the contributions
of volunteers at our national wildlife refuges and at our
national fish hatcheries.
Through these two laws, one is the National Wildlife Refuge
System Volunteer and Community Partnership Act and the other is
the National Fish Hatcheries Systems Volunteer Act, now, the
Fish & Wildlife Service has established nearly 190 friend
organizations through these programs. The service also has
received thousands of hours of invaluable volunteer labor and
in kind services which have helped alleviate cut backs in
Federal staff levels at our refuges and hatcheries.
My questions are: has your organization ever provided any
volunteers to support operations at our national wildlife
refuges or the national fish hatcheries, and, if not, is there
some impediment preventing it? The second question is do you
anticipate that the passage of H.R. 1612 will make it easier
for your organization to place volunteers within the refuge and
hatchery systems?
Mr. Penny. Well, thank you for the question, and the
response is, yes, we have worked with the Fish & Wildlife
Service on numerous occasions for many years. SCA has had a
cooperative agreement with Fish & Wildlife Service for about
the last 30 years. So the only thing that keeps us from doing
more of it is money and the authority for them to work more
closely with us and other youth serving organizations.
I think it is an absolutely fabulous inclusion to have Fish
& Wildlife Service as a part of this. I might also say that
also having NOAA and Commerce involved with this is really
important.
What we do know is that increasing numbers of young people,
particularly college students, are very interested in serving
on our shore lands, and marine sanctuaries and marine lands,
and so the more we can do with both Fish & Wildlife Service and
NOAA, the more opportunities and the more young people will be
interested in being involved. So I think that is an excellent
inclusion.
Ms. Bordallo. Very good, and I do agree. One last question,
Mr. Chairman.
Mr. Penny. Ma'am, may I just respond to the question you
asked Marcus and James?
Ms. Bordallo. Yes.
Mr. Penny. I would say the best way to recruit more young
people into working on public lands is to get young people out
talking to them. I would say the best way to do that is to work
with cooperating organizations, like SCA, like the various
corps, and get their members visiting schools and sharing their
experience. It is not those of us with gray hairs that recruit
them or even a green and gray uniform with the Park Service, it
is somebody that shares their experience and their age.
Ms. Bordallo. I agree. I agree with that wholeheartedly.
One last question, and this could be Ms. Prouty or Mr. Penny.
Do your organizations have any programs on Guam or in any of
the other insular areas, and, if not, what can we do to get SCA
and corps volunteers in the Guam National Wildlife Refuge?
Mr. Penny. Well, I can respond. On occasion we have had
some college interns serving in Guam and also in the Virgin
Islands. We certainly work with the parks in the Virgin Islands
there, and we would like to do more.
Ms. Bordallo. Good. Well, I would certainly like to invite
you to do more.
Ms. Prouty. And we would like to work with you to do more,
and we have not.
Ms. Bordallo. I have been assured by the Chairman that the
territories are included in this legislation. Thank you, Mr.
Chairman. Thank you.
Mr. Grijalva. Thank you, and thank you for those
suggestions, Ms. Bordallo. I think the issue of outreach and
how it is done and the importance of that is important and the
insular areas and territories to be included in the overall
scope of the legislation as vital, and necessary and fair, and
thank you for both of those. Mr. Inslee?
Mr. Inslee. Thank you, and particularly thanks to Dale
Penny and Sally Prouty for your help with developing a clean
energy corps which is a somewhat allied effort. We really
appreciate it. We think we have a good product. We have a suite
of these opportunities for young people now, so whatever their
vision is, they can take advantage of it.
I want to ask Sally Jewell, and welcome her as a leader in
our community in Washington State, and she has been a very
successful business leader in a variety of contexts, and I just
wonder, Sally, if you can give us any thoughts about if you
were looking at this from a business perspective, do you have
any suggestions on how to operate these particular endeavors?
Do you have any suggestions, any criticisms? You certainly know
how to run an operation, so if you have any thoughts, I would
solicit them.
Ms. Jewell. Thanks, Congressman. I have a lot of
suggestions, and I will make them brief. REI engages with lots
of nonprofit organizations. We are very, very committed to
supporting our public lands. SCA and many of the members of the
corps network are organizations that we work closely with. I
would say that while they are very committed to their work,
they are always short of money.
It is not uncommon for them to run into bureaucracy when
they work on public lands. I think one of the things that could
be facilitated to help move these things forward is a clear
commitment on the part of the public agencies from all the ones
that have been mentioned, certainly national parks, but U.S.
Forest Service, Fish & Wildlife Service, NOAA and so on, to
really help create a supportive infrastructure to bring in
organizations that are very, very effective in engaging young
people, and older people, in service, as well as volunteers.
So I think that you end up with national park
superintendents and national forest supervisors who are really
supportive in some cases, and in other cases it is more
difficult to bring the volunteer resources to bear I think
sometimes because of the challenges they face within their own
agencies.
Mr. Inslee. This may be a little controversial, but we
might want to think about specific appropriations and
allocations for volunteer infrastructure. You know, to get
volunteers in, you have to have the personnel to organize,
supervise, recruit. Maybe that is something we can think about
more in the appropriation side of this. Let me ask you, my son
works for a group called Outdoors for All. They take people
with challenges, quadriplegics and blind people, skiing and
kayaking. It is a pretty amazing group.
Would this bill allow folks to essentially be detailed to
organizations like that, or at least work arm in arm with them?
How flexible would this allow these corps to be? It is an open
question to anyone. I see Dale Penny shaking his head. Do you
have any thoughts about that, Dale?
Mr. Penny. Sure. We would like to be able to include groups
like that for appropriate level of work to be done. I think you
would have to be very clear about where they could work and
what is appropriate from a risk management point of view, but I
think it should be open to all of those groups.
Mr. Inslee. Yes. I was thinking actually more of the
question of the relationship between these volunteers, these
corps members, with nonprofits. In other words, can you
actually sort of lend out a person on this corps to a nonprofit
organization like this for a week or a month or under their
supervision?
Mr. Penny. Sure.
Mr. Inslee. Is that workable? Does the statute as we have
drafted it allow sufficient flexibility in that regard?
Ms. Prouty. Thank you for the question, and thank you for
your leadership from Community Service Corps. We owe you big
time. We appreciate you. If the money from the bill is in fact
as I understand it for projects, and if the cooperative
agreement with the corps is to complete a particular project or
a series of projects, then the corps would have to be focused
on those projects. So it sounds to me like the line of
reasoning that you are engaged in might not sit or we might
need to think about that.
We, both Bill and I, have corps around the country who have
individual placements of members doing particular work, but it
is different from what we would normally see in a public lands
corps, project funded corps.
Mr. Inslee. Well, I might actually ask the staff to help me
look at that issue because I think it is a force multiplier
when we can get these groups working. Sally, did you have any
thought?
Ms. Jewell. Well, I was just going to make a comment. I
think that the legislation to do that and the public service
acts that passed recently accommodate some of what you are
discussing. What this is specifically looking at is really
around public lands, which weren't explicitly called out in the
earlier legislation, so I do think that there is a benefit of
focus that Chairman Grijalva has put into this legislation
around public lands because the need is so great.
I think if you go back to the testimony of Will Shafroth a
little bit earlier, he talked about, you know, the opportunity
not just, say, in a national park, but all the way down to city
parks and public lands. It is a great way to engage people in
public service close to where they live.
In my conversation with James as we were waiting for the
session to start, you know, a lot of his work, he stays at home
and he goes to the site during the day and then he comes back,
and I think that really addresses these kinds of opportunities
and service learning close to home as well as more remote
destinations, like SCA does. I think that the GIVE Act and the
equivalent act in the other body do help address what you are
talking about. That is my understanding.
Mr. Inslee. Yes. I appreciate it. Mr. Reynolds?
Mr. Reynolds. May I return to a comment that Sally Jewell
made about the bureaucratic hurdles to be overcome to get
through some of these things? There is an example at the Fish &
Wildlife Service and it is the creation of a new agreement with
the SCA. Took less than six months. It went very quickly. It
was very easy.
As a counterpart, and the Fish & Wildlife Service has
specific legislation that allows for cooperative agreements so
it doesn't have to have the same interpretations of solicitors
and contracting officers that the Park Service is faced with
because it doesn't have the similar legislation. The Park
Service agreement, which should be done in about a month, has
been going on for two years, 11 months, and it is still
counting to get this agreement.
The reason I made the recommendation in my testimony about
legislation was to eliminate that kind of bottleneck for all of
the agencies. It is not because the agencies don't want to make
things happen, it is because the advisors to the agencies in
contracting and attorneys have different interpretations of
law. If we want this act and other cooperative acts to get used
in the parks and the other public lands to work efficiently,
these authorities need to be addressed.
Mr. Inslee. Well, I know many would seek to outlaw
attorneys in this country but I do not favor that approach.
Being one, and being proudly a lawyer, a won't favor that
issue.
Mr. Reynolds. Fish & Wildlife Service has an excellent
approach at authorities.
Mr. Inslee. I appreciate that. Just, I really want to thank
Mr. Hendricks and Mr. Childress for being here. You guys are
exactly what we had in mind, and it is just wonderful to see
your futures developing. I want to give you a warning, though.
I know a couple guys who were involved in SCA and doing this
kind of work. One of them ended up a very wealthy investment
banker and one ended up a congressman, so you have to be
careful when you get into these things. I am giving you
warnings about that. Good luck. Thank you.
Mr. Grijalva. Thank you, Mr. Inslee. Mr. Holt?
Mr. Holt. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I commend you and Mr.
Rahall for pursuing this legislation. I am pleased to have
worked to get national parks included in the recent volunteer
service legislation. All of you have spoken about how much the
potential is, in fact, Sally Prouty specifically said potential
exists in today's young people. I would like to look from the
other side what the potential is.
Sally Jewell I know heard the Secretary of the Interior say
just last night that he would like to greatly increase the
volunteer opportunities in the parks. I wanted to get some idea
of what is the upper limit? What could the system absorb? How
large scale might we go to? Perhaps you have covered this
already in today's hearing, but I think it is an important
enough question it wouldn't hurt covering it again.
Ms. Jewell. Well, let me take a stab at it, and I am sure
Sally Prouty and Dale perhaps would have things to add as well.
In the hundreds of organizations that REI----
Mr. Grijalva. If I may just, and not to interrupt, well,
yes, I guess it is----
Ms. Jewell. You are the Chairman.
Mr. Grijalva. We have been called to a vote. We have about
five, six minutes, so as we wrap up, I am just urging you to be
as succinct as you can.
Mr. Holt. Yes. I mean, if you can just give us your
estimate in a sentence to why.
Ms. Jewell. Well, I would say that the potential is
hundreds of thousands, and I will say why, and that is because
right now many, many programs are being cut and there is
infrastructure and the people in the organizations ready to
step forward but they don't have funding right now to be able
to do it. So I think it could be enlarged dramatically.
Ms. Prouty. I would say that we have recently been in
communication when working with Department of the Interior, and
we have given them basic information around the 200,000 number.
So those discussions would be continuing obviously and they are
not hard and fast, but that is the number we are thinking.
Mr. Penny. I would agree with both. The capacity of all of
the organizations collectively is huge if the money is there to
support the buildup of that capacity and the young people are
there. I think that is important, too.
Mr. Holt. Thank you. I wish we could continue the
discussion. Again, I commend the Chair for pursuing this
legislation.
Mr. Grijalva. Thank you very much. So let me thank all of
you for being here. It has been very informative with some very
good suggestions. we will follow up with you on them. In terms
of the legislation, it is a vehicle--a vehicle to promote the
three things that I asked the question about: intervention in
one area, human resource development in another, and our public
lands. That is the intent of the legislation, to try to
accomplish those three--as some of the fine organizations that
are here have been doing for a long time.
We look forward to moving this legislation ahead, and with
the input of my colleagues as well as from you, I think we will
have a good vehicle for accomplishing those three goals. So
thank you very much. Very informative and a good hearing. Thank
you. The meeting is adjourned.
[Whereupon, at 3:50 p.m., the Subcommittee was adjourned.]