Photo: Montana Conservation Corps
Did you know your donations to the Glacier Conservancy provide life-changing opportunities for youth, local tribal members, and veterans? Through a special partnership with the Montana Conservation Corps, participants in the Glacier Conservation Corps are able to translate their knowledge and passion for the environment into valuable work experience that provides lasting benefit to the park.
This program also strives to reach under-served and urban communities to create a deeper connection with Glacier and inspire the future stewards of our public lands.
Preserving Glacier for Future Generations
As last year’s Live Drive featured project at the 2018 Backpacker’s Ball, the Glacier Conservation Corps continues to be a signature project in helping meet the Conservancy’s mission of preserving Glacier for future generations.
This year’s Glacier Youth Corps, Piikani Lands Crew, and Veterans Green Corps are hard at work on critical preservation and restoration projects across Glacier, including trail maintenance, scientific data collection, fuels reduction, and noxious weed control.
Providing Opportunities for Youth
The Glacier Youth Corps encourages teens and young adults to connect with something bigger than themselves. By living and working alongside peers from different communities, participants develop a team first mentality that can lead to lasting friendships.
Tribal Outreach
The Piikani Lands Crew gives participants the opportunity to work alongside others from the Blackfeet Nation who share an interest in making a lifelong impact on the community and nearby ancestral lands. Crews perform a mix of fence work, trail maintenance, and wildlife surveying throughout Glacier and other public lands.
Giving Veterans a New Start
The Veterans Green Corps provides field-based opportunities in Glacier and throughout Montana for post 9/11 era Armed Forces Veterans and Service Members. The program focuses on experiences that provide on-the-job training in wildland firefighting and chainsaw technical skills.
All crew members learn valuable team skills, environmental stewardship, and embrace a strong service ethic through their crew experience and complementary education.
Whether it’s young people gaining some of their first experiences in the field or veterans getting a new start, the Glacier Conservation Corps is changing lives right now in a way that few other investments can.
