garrett's blog

The SCA Trail Town Outreach Corps, an organization focusing on sustainable economic development in the towns along the Great Allegheny Passage supported by the Trail Town Program and the Student Conservation Association, rides the GAP each year to experience the journey that brings people from across the region, the country, and even the world to bicycle in the Laurel Highlands.

Check out their great two-part feature on Cycling the Great Allegheny Passage!

• Part 1
• Part 2

Do you care about the future of youth conservation services?

Then help protect and expand them.

Call, write, and email your Congressman today and ask them to co-sponsor The Youth Corps Act of 2011 (H.R. 711).

This bill was first introduced by Representative Hirono (HI) with co-sponsor support from Representatives Andrews (NJ), Boswell (IA), Costa (CA), Grijalva (AZ), Kildee (MI), Luján (NM), and Matsui (CA). If passed the Act will amend the Workforce Investment Act of 1998 to provide for the establishment of Youth Corps programs and wider dissemination of the Youth Corps model.

Passage would expand opportunities for young adults to protect our public lands and equip the conservation leaders of tomorrow with the hands-on skills they need to succeed.

On June 1st Representative Hirono will send a letter out to other members of the House asking for their support.

You can take part in moving these efforts forward!!

Call your Representative today to let him or her know that strengthening national youth conservation services is an important tool to help address conservation and environmental concerns on public lands and in our communities. Here is how you can contact your Representative:

• Call the U.S. Capitol at 202-224-3121
• Provide your zip code to find your Rep or ask for your Representative's office directly
• Explain that you are a resident of the Representative's home state
• Tell them you are calling to register your strong support for The Youth Corps Act of 2011 (H.R. 711) and to ASK YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TO CO-SPONSOR IT.
• Explain that you support this legislation because it promotes the conservation of public lands today, as well as the chance to provide young Americans with the training and education to ensure that we have a well-equipped workforce to care for these public lands in the future as well.

Your calls are extremely important. Representatives track and count the calls they receive in deciding how they will vote on an issue. Please call your Representative this Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.

To find your representative online simply go to www.house.gov and enter your zip code into the ‘Find your Representative" box in the upper right.

For more information about the Youth Corps Act of 2011:

• Read a summary of the Youth Corps Act of 2011 (PDF)
• Let us know that you've called your Representative and give us your thoughts by commenting on this blog post

Thank you for voicing your support to expand service opportunities for Americans of all ages!

By the year 2013, 36 U.S. states are expected to face serious water shortages. This disturbing information has prompted SCA and American Water, in partnership with EPA’s WaterSense program, to promote household water conservation through a year-long public service campaign.

These short videos -- featuring national surfing champion and SCA spokesperson Lakey Peterson; Saturday Night Live alums Rachel Dratch and Horatio Sanz, and Law & Order's Diane Neal -- deliver practical, actionable tips to help you start making a difference.

Watch the PSAs, and then tell us what you think!

Lakey Peterson

Take Action

If you would like to do something to help save our water resources, in addition of course to fixing your leaky plumbing, here are a few good links.

• Estimate your Water Footprint. Then pledge to use less water.
• Check out your Water IQ.
• Learn more about American Waters 125th Anniversary year-long campaign to save water
• Share these videos with your friends.

View the slideshow

LOCATION: Last Organic Outpost, Emile Street Community Farm
DATE & TIME: Friday, October 29, 9:30 AM - 12:00 PM

EVENT RECAP: 45 Yes Prep students, along with teachers, chaperones and SCA staff visited Last Organic Outpost's Emile Street Community Farm in Houston's 5th Ward. This was both a service project and a great learning experience for the students. For many of them it was their first time getting their hands dirty at gardening. Marcella Murff Icet, one of the owners of the farm, gave the group a tour of the gardens, talking about the importance of growing your food local and organic and let the students sample some of the vegetables that were being grown. Everyone then got to work harvesting, weeding and raking garden beds which were then used to replant beets that had overgrown a different part of the garden. Later on, the group was given a demonstration in outdoor cooking as lunch was prepared from greens harvested right out of the garden.

Projects Completed:

• 4 beds of okra harvested
• 4 beds weeded, raked, prepared for planting
• 2 beds of beets thinned and then replanted into 5 new beds
• Various greens and vegetables harvested
• Locally grown lunch made!

LOCATION: South Side Park
DATE & TIME: Saturday, October 23, 10am-3pm

EVENT RECAP: 12 CLC students, 7 staff and former crew leaders, and 11 neighborhood volunteers attended what turned out to be a sunshine and energy-filled workday in South Side Park in Pittsburgh's South Side Slopes neighborhood. The projects consisted of trail work along the parking lot/baseball field Connector Trail and the Plateau Trail, litter cleanup around the Plateau area and Bandi Schaum Field, and invasive plant removal around the entire park. Throughout the day, several residents approached the group thanking them for their work and offering to join, and expressed surprise and delight that non-residents would work so hard in the park. It was a very meaningful experience for those involved!

View the slideshow

Projects Completed:

• Roughly 40 trees freed of invasive vines
• 6 large bags of trash and debris collected
• 1 large bag of recyclables collected
• Several bundles of Japanese knotweed collected
• 4 fallen trees cleared from across trails
• Approximately 1 mile of trail "brushed" and cleared of obstacles
• 5 drainage structures installed on trails
• Approximately 200 feet of bench-cutting completed on trails
• 6 check steps and a reinforced drain dip reset