MONTANA CONSERVATION CORPS INC

Since our founding in 1991, MCC has provided transformative, team-focused and service-driven experiences in the outdoors for young people. Our mission is to inspire young people through hands-on conservation service to be leaders, stewards of the land, and engaged citizens who improve their communities.

Each year MCC enrolls hundreds of young adults and school-aged youth in our young adult AmeriCorps Field Crews and our Youth Service Expeditions. The first three months of our programming each year is spent teaching Crew Leaders wilderness, leadership, and interpersonal skills as part of our highly-acclaimed Leadership Development Program. Our Crew Leaders then pass those skills along to their crews of members, as they live, learn, and serve together in some of our country’s wildest places. Crews then spend weeks to months completing conservation projects on public land, including on national forests, state and national parks, wildlife refuges, federally designated wilderness areas, and other sites.

We strive to give participants the experience of a lifetime through challenging projects and the rigors of life outdoors, coupled with education developed specifically to create leaders, engaged citizens, and lifelong environmental stewards. We find that a term with Montana Conservation Corps is the ideal environment in which to gain increased confidence, communication and leadership skills, personal growth, and the ability to work well with people from all walks of life. Our goal is that each participant will leave MCC with the following: an ethic of volunteer service and civic responsibility; strengthened communication and team-building skills; enhanced competencies to be leaders and contributing team members; increased knowledge of the natural environment; and an enthusiasm for the benefits of hard work and quality results.

Operating from regional offices located in Helena, Kalispell, Missoula, and Bozeman, Montana, MCC project work takes place across the state of Montana as well as in Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota. MCC programs include:

Adult Field Crews – Young adult Field Crews are composed of AmeriCorps volunteers who serve various terms of service working in small teams to complete challenging and meaningful hands-on restoration, stewardship, and other conservation related projects on our public lands.

Veterans Green Corps (VGC) - A field-based opportunity for post 9/11 era armed forces veterans and service members which offers a pathway for employment for participants. The VGC program provides on-the-job training focusing on Wildland Firefighting and chainsaw technical skills. Members receive wildland firefighting certifications and other training at no cost. Project work typically includes fuels reduction and thinning projects however it may also include other types of conservation service.

Women’s Fire Crew (WFC) – It can be challenging for women to navigate gender stereotypes in the male-dominated wildland firefighting field. The WFC addresses this gender disparity, giving women the opportunity to work alongside and empower one another while providing a platform to break into careers in wildland firefighting. The all-female crew is provided training to give them the technical skills, leadership abilities, and confidence to pursue careers in wildland firefighting, earning S130/190 wildland firefighting and S212 saw operation certifications. Crews are likely to be deployed to active fires toward the end of their term, after receiving their certifications.

High School Expeditions – High School Expedition is a four-week volunteer service experience for Montana teens ages 14 to 17. High School Expedition members spend the majority of their time outdoors, camping, working, and exploring. Each crew is led by two MCC AmeriCorps adult Crew Leaders, who are graduates of MCC’s seven-week leadership training program. Project activities take place in a mix of backcountry sites, where crews backpack into a site to camp and work remotely, and front country sites, where crews car-camp near the project site. Project work includes fencing, trail maintenance/construction, wildlife surveying, invasive weeds removal, transplantation of native plants, historic preservation, campground maintenance, and more. Throughout the program, participants are exposed to challenging physical work as well as the rigors of camp life.

Middle School Expedition – Middle School Expedition is a one-week volunteer service experience for Montana youth ages 12 to 14. Middle School Expedition members work together with five other students and MCC staff, led by two MCC AmeriCorps adult Crew Leaders who are graduates of MCC’s seven-week leadership training program. Crews engage in trails and habitat projects, spending the majority of their time outdoors, camping, working, and exploring. This age group is particularly vulnerable as they prepare to transition to high school, a difficult passage. Crew-based service provides the perfect vehicle for giving these young people a tangible experience of addressing real-world challenges as well as developing and experiencing civic agency—the impact that they can have on their own life, their crew, their community, and their world.

Tribal Corps – MCC offers programs specifically for young adult and youth members of Indian tribes from Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, and South Dakota. These include:

Piikani Land Crew – Young adults from the Blackfeet Tribe in Montana engage in conservation service on ancestral lands in Glacier National Park, on the Blackfeet Reservation, and on Forest Service land, while earning a wage.

Wind River Crew – Similar to the Piikani Land Crew, young adults from the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming engage in conservation service on ancestral lands in and around the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming.

Grand Teton Tribal Youth Corps – In partnership with Grand Teton National Park, MCC provides a month-long, paid, youth expedition in Grand Teton National Park for native youth from the Wind River Reservation in Wyoming and Fort Hall Reservation in Idaho. Tribal Youth Corps participants build bridges, maintain trails, and work on cultural properties while learning about National Park Service careers and creating a personal connection to their ancestral lands.

Cheyenne River Expedition – Similar to Grand Teton Tribal Youth Corps, the Cheyenne River Expedition provides an opportunity for high school youth from the Cheyenne River Reservation in South Dakota to participate in conservation service activities on public and ancestral lands in South Dakota and Wyoming.

All Nations Youth Expedition – All Nations programs operate out of Billings and Great Falls, Montana, in partnership with the local school districts. All Nations provide the opportunity for urban Indian youth to spend one to two weeks learning from public land agency professionals and tribal elders about habitat restoration, wildlife management, recreation management, and archaeology while exploring local lands with cultural significance and completing service projects to improve the lands.

Big Sky Watershed Corps (BSWC) - An AmeriCorps program that assists Montana’s watershed communities to make a measurable difference in local conservation efforts while providing work experience for young professionals. Individual participants are placed with local organizations for ten months and engage in work focused on watershed research, planning and project implementation, watershed education and outreach, and community engagement. Big Sky Watershed Corps is offered through a partnership of Soil and Water Conservation Districts of Montana, the Montana Watershed Coordination Council, and Montana Conservation Corps. BSWC members are provided an AmeriCorps-funded living allowance and an educational stipend after their term of service ends.

Conservation Intern (CI) program – This program provides opportunities for college students and recent graduates to gain professional experience in a conservation-related field. Conservation Interns serve at partnering federal, state, and nonprofit agencies across the state of Montana and neighboring states. Internships are focused to help develop the interns’ professional skill set while they provide expertise and valuable contributions to the host site.