In a year marked by the renaming of major state forest and parklands in honor of three conservation icons, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn cited three initiatives — creation of a task force to maximize forest-related jobs, a new online tool to improve customer service for reservations, and an innovative new program putting young people to work in those forests — as among the department’s distinguished accomplishments in 2016.
“That panel’s work and closing report represented eight months of hard work by 35 task-force members, many agency staff and experts, all drawn together by Governor Tom Wolf’s call to analyze current limitations to forest conservation and job growth, and develop an action plan to address both objectives,” Dunn said.
Some new jobs were created in early summer in DCNR’s state forestlands and state parks when the department joined Labor & Industry and Student Conservation Association officials in launching the Pennsylvania Outdoor Corps. The summer program, to be expanded, offered paid work experience, job training, and educational opportunities to young people who completed recreation and conservation projects.