From NHCC Director, Mike Vecchiarelli

The students and staff that make up SCA’s NHCC are well into the challenges of the 2009 program year as these stories show.  And, we anticipate there will be new challenges that NHCC is uniquely qualified to meet, among which will likely be a resurgence in use of parks and state lands.

As families look for low-cost ways to vacation, our forests, waterways, and beaches will be obvious choices. Our public services will be charged to do more with less. Our natural resources will be used to their limits. As our state’s leaders work to use stimulus funds, create jobs, and preserve NH’s natural treasures, NHCC, not unlike the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 30’s, stands ready to roll up its sleeves and get to work.

With 15 years of work in NH’s schools, parks, and forests to our credit, NHCC has the experience, people, and tools to provide great conservation service at economical costs. If you would like to learn more about SCA’s New Hampshire Conservation Corps, please email Director Mike Vecchiarelli, mvecchiarelli@thesca.org, or Conservation Manager Sam Commarto, scommarto@thesca.org, or call at 603.485.2191.

“There has been as increased interest in the old Civilian Conservation Corps of the depression years and the role is played in providing not only employment but opportunity for the young men of that critical time in American History.” So began Dick Violette’s presentation to the 2009 members of the NHCC. As he went on to explain, the Civilian Conservation Corps was formed in a time of economic collapse and dire need for upgrading our nation’s infrastructure. The government infused money to create jobs, improve public lands, and generally renew hope for the country. Sounds familiar, doesn’t it?

Violette did a great job of retelling some of the immeasurable benefits the CCC had to its members, including acquiring skills, gaining the discipline of team effort, and doing work of lasting value. The NHCC members who come with a passion for the environment and a desire to provide service gain similar benefits such as seeing the positive effects their work will provide and that it will be appreciated well into the future.

The Civilian Corps also prepared most of the National Parks for multiple uses including recreation, conservation, resource management, and more. Soon after the Second World War, people took to roads newly constructed and improved by the CCC and began exploring the public lands from coast to coast. This was a relatively low cost way for families and individuals to enjoy the outdoors in ways previously unattainable except by the wealthy or highly skilled adventurists.

However, by the mid-1950’s, these same parks were being “loved to death,” according to SCA founder Elizabeth Titus-Putnam. National Parks and other open spaces were being severely impacted by the scores of visitors. Park employees and the systems they managed were overwhelmed. And so began the SCA, inspired by the CCC, with a call to the young people of the nation to help restore our natural resources and, in return, gain valuable skills and experiences that would carry them forward in life.

And now SCA comes full circle. Once again in a time of economic challenge, not unlike that of the CCC era, SCA stands ready to partner with resource mangers for the benefit of public lands while offering extraordinary leadership and conservation service opportunities to our country’s young people. In a great sense, our country is very fortunate to have the SCA already up and running.