Dear Bears Ears Partnership Community,
Canyon Country Youth Corps (CCYC) was founded in 2000 by Four Corners School of Outdoor Education (now doing business as Canyon Country Discovery Center-CCDC). It was founded on the same principles as the large family of 150 Conservation Corps nationally. All Corps are represented and supported by The Corps Network, the National Association of Service and Conservation Corps founded in 1985, whose Corps provide young adults and veterans the opportunity to serve our country through projects on public lands and in rural and urban communities throughout the nation.
The Corps Network is an incredibly effective, professional Association that supports Corps through advocacy, providing access to funding and project opportunities, and by offering expertise in Corps operations and programming. Every year, The Corps Network’s efforts help enable over 20,000 diverse young people and recent veterans to strengthen communities, improve the environment, and transform their lives through service in Corps programs.
Corps are local organizations that engage young adults (generally ages 16 – 30) and veterans (up to age 35) in service projects that address conservation, climate resilience, and community needs. Through a term of service that could last from a few months to a year, Corps participants – or “Crewmembers” – gain work experience and develop in-demand skills. Crewmembers are compensated with a stipend or living allowance and often receive an education award or scholarship upon completing their service. Additionally, Corps provide participants educational programming, mentoring, and access to career and personal counseling.
In 2024, as CCDC transitioned, CCYC has a new home with Bears Ears Partnership, a non-profit based in Bluff, who plan to expand CCYC’s Indigenous crew membership and work with Tribes and Tribal partners in support of collaborative co-management, especially in Bears Ears National Monument, but also other public Forest Service, National Park Service, and Bureau of Land Management lands in southeastern Utah. As with all Corps, a focus is on helping to get more youth into careers in conservation and public lands management. CCYC will continue, through BEP’s leadership, to remain part of the large Corps family and its standard of operations, management, and programming.
I am very excited about this new home and leadership for the future of CCYC. I am excited about their plans to connect CCYC with the Bears Ears Conservation Partnership’s effort for landscape scale watershed conservation, in the San Juan River Corridor and beyond, to conducting trail work with the Bureau of Land Management to support visitor readiness. CCYC crews will be a vital component of BEP’s work moving forward and allow them to continue carrying out their mission to protect and build respect for the cultural and natural landscapes of the greater Bears Ears region.
Janet Ross
Retired Executive Director of Four Corners School of Outdoor Education (Canyon Country Discovery Center)
Photos: CCYC/CCDC Staff