AT THE CORPS OF COMMUNITY

Program Partners

November 1, 2024 – The 2025-2027 Oregon Conservation Corps Request for Applications Opens. Visit the Higher Education Coordinating Commissions Grants and Contracting page for more information.

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Through the OCC Program Partners, young Corps-members have cleared hundreds of acres of forest fuel, protecting critical infrastructure, and creating defensible space around homes throughout Oregon. Below is a map of the counties that have received treatments from OCC-funded crews.

map of oregon with 21 of 26 counties highlighted as having received an OCC treatment

“If we are going to move the needle on wildfires and climate change, we need a workforce that’s ready. The Oregon Conservation Corps is a program designed to create fire-adapted communities, while training the workforce of tomorrow.”

Jeff Parker
Executive Director
Northwest Youth Corps

“The work in the Oregon Conservation Corps isn’t being done any other way. Fire chiefs and fire stations don’t have the human power to do this work—and yet their communities need it. Oregonians can take pride in how quickly the state got this program up and running.”

Kai Chotard
Community Wildfire Protection Corps Director
Northwest Youth Corps

“Some of these youth were homeless. Now they have apartments, a steady paycheck, and they’re contributing to the community. There’s an abundance of young people that want this opportunity. We have triple the applicants that we can hire based on the funding.”

Marko Bey
Executive Director
Lomakatsi Restoration Project

“Access to funds would really help to mitigate wildfire events. If we’re not spending it beforehand then we’ll be spending during a fire. And that’s a lot of money.”

Jennifer Case
Natural Resource Specialist
Oregon Department of Forestry
Klamath-Lake District