Austin Conservation Corps, a new organization created by ACC's Center for Public Policy and Political Studies (CPPPS), now offers students the job opportunities maintaining and building parks around Austin.
The CPPPS held a press conference at the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center on Nov. 11 to announce their plans for the Conservation Corps. The corps will work to restore Austin area parks, with a focus on the Lady Bird Lake and Trail system.
"We had good press coverage," said the CPPPS director, Peck Young. "The whole point (of the conference) was to show the community what we do."
Trail construction, maintenance, landscaping, park development, tree planting, recycling, flooding prevention, and erosion control are some of the many operations under way in the near future for the corps.
"We decided to focus on Lady Bird Lake because we are deeply concerned about the condition of the Lake trail systems. Actually, Lady Bird was reluctant to have the park named after her because of the inconsistent maintenance problems due to periods without funding. So, Austin mayor (Lee Leffingwell) talked to the head of the parks department to see if maintenance could be possible with less money," Young said.
The organization also has the support of many prominent members of the Austin community: former Texas Governor Mark White, Austin City Council member Mike Martinez, and Vice President of the Board of Austin Community College's Center for Public Policy and Political Studies, Gerald Hill.
The corps will offer training in environmental and conservation work and can prepare students for future careers as a park ranger, manager, civil engineer, botanist, biologist, forester, environmental scientist and more.
The CPPPS will oversee the corps which has a budget of about $250,000. Goodwill will pay members, and Austin Energy will provide money for a supervisor of the work crew.
To join, one must be and ACC student or planning to enroll by the following semester.
"Every twelve weeks we get new students recommended through Goodwill. Most of these young people will be ACC students, others will be enrolling as students in the coming semesters," Young said. ACC already supports the organization with 12 students.
Corps CPPPS and the Austin Conservation Corps share the focus to bring attention to the environment in belief that, since part of a community's responsibilities is the conservation of natural resources, and because public policy plays a role in regulating the community‘s efforts, the two are necessarily integrated.
Young said, "It's a good way to earn money, get experience in the workforce and classroom, and get experience in leadership skills."
is a member of the 
Be the first to comment on this article!