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AmeriCorps Members have a unique opportunity to serve the public and engage with natural spaces around North Carolina.

Building Community, One Board at a Time

Conservation Corps North Carolina serves the public through a trail restoration project with Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association

Hammer? Check. Nails? Check. A hardworking crew? Conservation Corps has that, too. 

This July, a team of six Conservation Corps crew members and two team leaders worked with the Ellerbe Creek Watershed Association (ECWA) to complete a much-needed trail reroute project. They performed maintenance on an existing trail boardwalk – and built an entirely new one! ?  – in the 17-Acre Wood Nature Preserve in Durham. 

“Right now, we are in a generation that, for the first time in human civilization, is a really indoor generation. I love the way [the Conservation Corps program] puts people into nature, into the outdoors, and makes them aware of nature in a way that they feel like they’re contributing to the public…”

–Jan Pender, program manager for Conservation Corps N.C.

Together, the group assembled and installed new signs and replaced old signage at two nature preserves: ECWA’s Beaver Creek Nature Preserve and Glennstone Nature Preserve. ?

Can you guess how many service hours the team contributed to ECWA during the project? 

627 hours! One person would have had to labor more than 26 days around the clock to make that happen. But team work … makes the dream work. ?

The team at UNC-TV produced a phenomenal spot on this hardworking crew. Take a look!

During their “hitch” – that’s what AmeriCorps crews call their service outings, which last around nine days– the Conservation Corps North Carolina crew members learned a lot about themselves and each other.

CTNC was proud to fund the project through a grant with the Duke Energy Foundation. ?⚡️ Trails of public lands statewide wouldn’t be nearly as enjoyable without the dedication of these hardworking Conservation Corps service teams and the nonprofit organizations with which they partner. 

Jan Pender, Program Manager for Conservation Corps North Carolina, says that the Conservation Corps program is “important for our state’s future.”

“We have a rapidly growing population of young people, and of diverse young people,”  she says. “We want to serve all those people and get them connected to our state’s great public assets and help people understand the importance of stewarding them and preserving them.”

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