The head of the state Department of Conservation and Natural Resources saluted a dozen Pennsylvania Outdoor Corps workers for their work ethics on Wednesday as they worked to improve a popular long-distance hiking trail in Somerset County.
Cindy Adams Dunn, DCNR secretary, told the workers, who were building a firewood shelter for hikers near Jennerstown on the 70-mile-long Laurel Highlands Hiking Trail in Laurel Ridge State Park, that she hears “nothing but praise for what (Pennsylvania Outdoor Corps workers) accomplish in state parks and forest lands throughout the state.”
Now in its fourth year, the Pennsylvania Outdoor Corps is a initiative of Gov. Tom Wolf’s administration that offers work experience, job training and educational opportunities to young people who complete recreation and conservation projects on Pennsylvania’s public lands. The program is managed by DCNR in cooperation with the Student Conservation Association, with support provided by DCNR and the Department of Labor & Industry.
Dunn said that the program is “a key element of the department’s strategic efforts to connect with youth and expand job opportunities, particularly in underserved areas of the state.”
