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<DIV>Here's a link to an article published on the Environmental News Network
about one of California's premier invasive eradication forces (California
Conservation Corps) being in jeopardy of elimination due to the state's budget
crisis. The proposed defunding of this program would be
disastrous for many imperiled habitats. I was hoping you could post
the link for your readers.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><A
href="http://www.enn.com/press_releases/2794?title=governator_targets_the_california_conservation_corps_to_get_the_budget_out_of_the_red_he_wants_to_expel_youth_from_green_jobs">Governator
Targets the California Conservation Corps: To get the budget out of the red, he
wants to expel youth from green jo..</A> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Article pasted below. Thanks, John Griffith</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<H1>Governator Targets the California Conservation Corps: To get the budget out
of the red, he wants to expel youth from green jobs </H1>
<DIV style="CLEAR: both">
<P><STRONG>If you ever wanted to speak up for at-risk youth and/or endangered
species, right now is the time. A time-tested and highly productive program
called the California Conservation Corps (CCC) is threatened by Gov
Schwarzenegger’s budget axe. The 32-year-old environmental restoration and youth
development program has been responsible for countless trail, habitat
restoration and emergency response projects. This month the California
legislature is wrestling with an unprecedented deficit and deciding who and what
will be cut to balance the budget. The governor has already proposed to the
legislature that the CCC be among the programs to be de-funded. So speak up
now--waiting to get involved could result in the elimination of a program that
puts youth to work to restore the habitats of endangered wildlife, including
salmon and dozens of other species of endangered, threatened, and rare plants
and animals. There is no trained workforce that could mobilize to fill the void
created by cutting the CCC. And many endangered species may not survive the
wait. </STRONG></P><BR>
<P>Unfortunately, some people don’t get motivated to support government
programs. To them they are mysterious money wasters—defined by stacks of white
paper scribed in lawyer-speak. But to really understand the California
Conservation Corps, all you have to do is pick the right time to hike into one
of the Golden State’s coastal forests and listen. Between bird songs and the
sound of wind weaving through branches you would hear logs being hoisted into a
river, shovels slicing into earth, and the excitement of urban youth making
their first nature discoveries. The endangered coho salmon’s habitat is being
restored. </P><BR>
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<H4> </H4></DIV></DIV>
<P>The California Conservation Corps is a state-program based on the Civilian
Conservation Corps—a federal program created during the Great Depression to
provide jobs for jobless men and hope for hopeless families. California’s CCC
was launched in 1976 for young men as well as women between the ages of 18 and
25. They are encouraged to join to meet modern challenges like preventing
species extinctions, protecting millions of people from major disasters, and
restoring ecosystems denuded after a century of destructive land management
practices. </P><BR>
<P>For the first time since its creation, the youth of the CCC aren't only
swinging axes to help California—they're trying to dodge the ax being swung at
them by California’s governor. In his efforts to close the state’s $43 billion
budget gap, Governor Schwarzenegger is proposing to eliminate this oldest and
largest youth conservation corps, even though the CCC earns enough money from
work projects to support 40% of its own budget. Using the cliché that the CCC’s
budget isn't even a drop in the state’s deficit bucket would be an
understatement. The CCC’s budget would be less than a drop; it would be as tiny
as the mist particles shooting from the clenched teeth of those of us who are
growling over the governor’s short-sighted proposal. </P><BR>
<P>Youth and the environment may not be a priority to Arnold, but they are to
everyone who was encouraged by his rhetoric about creating green jobs and
preserving our public trust (nature). The CCC was, is, and will be one of
California’s best investments—not only for its youth, fiscal growth, and
ecological sustainability—but for its communities’ protection as well. The CCC
is one of California’s premier emergency response forces, with more than 9.3
million hours of emergency response since 1976. The CCC has been called out to
nearly every major natural disaster since that time—fires, floods, earthquakes,
pest infestations, oil spills, search and rescues, and more. CCC crews can be
dispatched within hours to anywhere in the state—or in the nation, as they were
during Louisiana’s Katrina crisis. A trained youth workforce saves money and
lives. If the CCC’s 500,000 corps member hours provided to fire agencies in 2008
were replaced by fire personnel, the cost to the state would have been $20
million. </P><BR>
<P>While many of us in disaster-prone California appreciate those kinds of
statistics, people all over the world can appreciate that the CCC employs 3,300
youth (corps members) each year to restore the habitats of imperiled species.
Who better to restore the environment than those who will inherit it? While
doing this essential work, these young people spend evenings working toward
acquiring diplomas and driver’s licenses (if they don't already have them). On
many of their weekends, they volunteer in the communities where they live. Last
year corps members gave California’s communities 23,000 volunteer hours. Upon
graduation from the program, they've earned a $4,725 federal AmeriCorps
scholarship and another $2,000 state scholarship for college or trade school.
</P><BR>
<P>The CCC does far more than respond to emergencies, provide educational
opportunities, and restore wild habitats—it restores self-worth in those youth
who joined to escape toxic patterns and neglected neighborhoods. It gives them
the satisfaction of working on a multi-cultural team and sharing in that team’s
sense of accomplishment. The CCC restores connections to nature. The current
technologically nursed generation needs this more than any previous generation.
Through environmental education, wilderness therapy, and months living in
landscapes that even the best video game graphics could never create, the CCC is
guiding the millennial generation through a rite of passage defined by their
motto: hard work, low pay, and miserable conditions. The wilderness may be the
only witness to this transformation, but families and society reap the benefits.
</P><BR>
<P>California’s legislators won't have time to hike out to where the sounds of
youth at work in the wilderness can be heard. But they can hear the sounds that
you make for those youth. Go to http://www.legislature.ca.gov/ and follow links
to find these legislators’ addresses. Write a letter. And do it soon.
California’s budget is being crafted now. Tell them the future of our youth and
the health of our natural environments are nonnegotiable. Remind them that the
wisdom of creating green jobs is as relevant for today’s depression as it was
during the Great Depression. In fact, ask them to expand the CCC to offset the
unemployment and environmental crises. </P><BR>
<P>Our youth don't need to be hopeless, unemployed, and with idle hands on our
streets, they need to be engaged in the nation’s economic and ecological
recovery. They need to be trained and on-hand to protect our communities. We
need their labor for vital projects that benefit everyone. And we all need you
to help make sure this happens. </P><BR>
<P>For more information about the CCC (or how to join) go to
http://www.ccc.ca.gov/ </P></DIV></DIV></FONT><BR><BR><BR><DIV CLASS="aol_ad_footer" ID="c443831bb8c220b29a690ce690c1d62a"><FONT style="color: black; font: normal 10pt ARIAL, SAN-SERIF;"><HR style="MARGIN-TOP: 10px"><b>A Good Credit Score is 700 or Above. <a href="http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1215855013x1201028747/aol?redir=http://www.freecreditreport.com/pm/default.aspx?sc=668072%26hmpgID=62%26bcd=DecemailfooterNO62"> See yours in just 2 easy steps!</a></b></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>