Commemorating 9/11 with Hands On Service to Nature

Interior Sec. Jewell Joins SCA & AmeriCorps for a 9/11 Service Project in D.C.

Photo: SCA member Justin Duncan, SCA CEO Jaime Matyas, SCA member CJ Goulding Jr., Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell joined The Student Conservation Association at Roaches Run Waterfowl Refuge on September 11th, 2014 for an environmental service project dedicated to those lost in the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Alongside SCA President Jaime Matyas, AmeriCorps Director Bill Basl, and George Washington Memorial Parkway Superintendent Alex Romero, Secretary Jewell led 125 SCA and AmeriCorps volunteers in an hours long effort to restore a stretch of Potomac River shoreline located just outside of Washington, DC. The day’s accomplishments included the removal 70 garbage bags worth of litter and the installation of 350 aquatic plants native to the Mid-Atlantic.

At her first service project since taking over as SCA’s President and CEO, Jaime Matyas noted that conservation service was a particularly apt way to memorialize 9/11, as preserving natural areas is one of America’s most enduring ideals. “For more than 150 years, each generation of Americans has stepped up to protect our public lands. At SCA, we want to make sure this continues, and that students everywhere can do their part to feel responsible for our incredible natural heritage,” she said.

Speaking before gathered volunteers, Justin Duncan, a distinguished alum of several SCA programs, observed “We are just one of the thousands of groups coming together across America this 9/11, united in national service. Combined, our impact will be amazing.”

See below for a project recap featured in “This Week at Interior,” and a moment by moment account of the day’s proceedings from SCA on Twitter.