About UCC

Who are our Members?

UCC AmeriCorps members are typically college-age young adults from Utah and around the nation who have committed to either 1700-, 900-, or 450-hour terms of service for their country. Most of our members are either college students or college graduates seeking experience in the fields of natural resource conservation, education, or social services.

Utah Conservation Corps History

The UCC has become part of the rich tradition of youth conservation corps and the national service movement. Utah has a long history of youth completing needed natural resource projects with the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in the 1930's and the Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) in the 1970's. These programs built trails, roads, bridges, and other landmarks that are still used today. In 1993, the National and Community Service Trust Act was signed creating a means for thousands of people to serve their country through AmeriCorps. With the success of AmeriCorps many conservation corps were formed and still currently serve nearby in the states of Colorado, Montana, Arizona, New Mexico, and Nevada. Utah, having a large amount of public land, was an ideal place to create a corps to benefit natural resources.

The UCC was developed by a group of committed citizens that formed a steering committee in the fall of 1999. This representation of Utah State University faculty and staff, public land managers, AmeriCorps members, AmeriCorps alumni, local educators, volunteers, and non-profit directors explored how the creation of a conservation corps could benefit the community and environment. The steering committee recommended the UCC have a broad mission that would address needs in natural resources, conservation education, literacy, and community volunteerism.

The steering committee, headed by Sean Damitz and Keith Shaw, wrote an AmeriCorps grant proposal in the winter of 2000. The grant proposal was successful and the UCC began operation at Utah State University's Outdoor Recreation Center with its first group of AmeriCorps members in January 2001. At that time, the UCC became a member of the National Association of Service and Conservation Corps (NASCC), an organization committed to the creation, development, and advocacy of the corps movement.

Since 2001, UCC AmeriCorps members have maintained and restored over 200 miles of trail, built or maintained 40 miles of fence, restored 2,000 acres of habitat on public lands, reached 13,000 students with educational presentations, and recruited 1,600 community volunteers, contributing over 4,000 hours to community service projects.

UCC members continue to be a huge part of the solution, building trails, restoring habitat, and working hard to make a difference in National Parks and Forests. Members have also worked with a variety of non-profit conservation organizations including Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation, HawkWatch International, and the Utah Society for Environmental Education.