Working Together for Nature

AmeriCorps Conservation Team members after a long day in the field at Dunstan Homestead Preserve, Middle Fork John Day River. © TNC

Through dedicated teamwork, AmeriCorps members help increase crucial conservation action across Oregon

After college, Kyle Strauss moved to the one corner of the country he hadn’t yet been: Oregon. Lured by landscapes, he joined AmeriCorps, a national program that facilitates a year of service. Working with the Northwest Service Academy and The Nature Conservancy, Strauss planted trees and removed invasive species.

Now Strauss is program coordinator for the Conservancy’s AmeriCorps Conservation Team, a 12-member crew for the past three years, with an additional person in 2010. Oregon is the first Conservancy chapter to manage its own AmeriCorps teams and, according to Strauss, the teams have been remarkably successful.

“Having been an AmeriCorps member and now helping train them really is a full circle,” Strauss said. “I know how much we can accomplish with the right people, and we’re also giving important opportunities for people to learn, and improve, skills.”

Crisscrossing the state, members spend their time under the tutelage of conservation staff advancing field research, restoring habitats and engaging local communities. Providing over 20,000 hours of service each year, they remove invasive plants, gather scientific data, lead volunteer and student work parties and help with prescribed burns.

Vincent Jansen, a two-year AmeriCorps member in Northeast Oregon, signed on primarily for the opportunity to work with prescribed fire. He and others earned “red card” certification, a national qualification to assist with controlled burns, and participated in ecological burns at Kingston Prairie, Sycan Marsh and other preserves.

At Sycan Marsh, he carried a drip torch through the forest for eight hours a day and just watched it burn behind him. “It’s the kind of thing that, as a kid, you never thought you’d be doing,” he said.

As part of a four-person roving crew, Jansen hit the road, racking up over 9,000 miles on the old Mazda pickup. “It’s great to get paid to travel and burn,” he said. “And, really, to learn so much about different preserves, management styles and ecosystems.”

This year’s crew is now in the height of field season, while Strauss is already busy preparing for next year’s team. Jansen, however, isn’t bothered much by the “what’s next?” question — he’s now working as a Conservancy scientist.

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