Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers

Forest Service Job Corps brings more than 60 years of service to the agency. At its core, the program reflects a simple truth. Workforce development is mission work. Our students learn best through hands-on, paid experience in real work settings, where they build skills while contributing directly to the Forest Service mission. These opportunities change individual lives and create lasting benefits for families and communities.

It’s been a long, grueling day on the fire line. Wildland firefighters, with faces full of soot and ash file wearily towards the building at the center of the camp. A door swings open, and bright yellow fabric lines the exterior walls of the room. The aroma of sautéed vegetables entices the firefighters inside. Bright pots and pans are a warm welcome from the outdoor elements. Inside a bustling kitchen is alive with Job Corps advanced culinary students moving with purpose to feed wildland firefighters returning from a day of taxing work.

MONTANA — With wildland fire winding down in parts of the country, the equipment and supplies critical for incident management support are being returned to caches across the country for cleaning, refurbishment and storage--or to be shipped out to new incidents. Most of this equipment is also used as part of other all-risk incidents such as floods, hurricanes, and search and rescue efforts. The National Interagency Support Cache system manages sixteen all-risk incident equipment caches nationwide. These caches rely on administratively determined employees during peak fire activity.

ILLINOIS — Cass and Mingo Job Corps civilian conservation centers masonry students, led by HistoriCorps professionals, completed critical stone restoration work on the Goose Bay Shelter at Shawnee National Forest. The masons removed and reinstalled the flagstone masonry surrounding the shelter and rehabilitated the exterior stone steps. Working on the project allowed the young masons to refine skills such as mixing mortar, designing layout, leveling stones, and tuckpointing. Located on the Lake Glendale recreation area, the Goose Bay shelter restoration efforts will protect the structure from further deterioration and pave the way for future improvements.