Under the summer sun, members of the Washington Conservation Corps construct trails beneath the canopies of Bellingham’s forests or plant saplings at new city parks. During the cold months, they tend to creeks, monitor salmon downstream and respond to natural disaster emergencies across the state. Now, with a local Bellingham ecosystem at risk, the Corps has come to the rescue again.
A number of young adults have made the commitment to provide up to a year of service to their local communities through the Washington Conservation Corps (WCC). Through rehabilitation, conservation and enhancement of their community’s most valuable natural and recreational resources, members of the WCC gain experiences and skills for their future outside the classroom.
Off Harris Avenue, across the old railroad tracks and past the wastewater treatment plant, a muddy trail leads to the small, glassy Post Point Lagoon where the current WCC Bellingham crew is working on its most recent project.
On a brisk January morning, WCC Bellingham Crew Supervisor, Vanessa Lott and five of her crew members worked in the lagoon mud. Wearing fluorescent yellow vests and hard hats, they installed silt fencing to help restore vegetation around the lagoon that was torn up by rambunctious dogs.
"Our group is working to take a site from a very low habitat value and try to improve it by planting and tending to native plants and maintaining the areas until they can mature on their own," Lott said.
The Post Point Lagoon project is one of the more important restoration projects for the Corps this year because they are protecting a natural habitat for a variety of species, such as salmon and the great blue heron.
The Bellingham WCC’s projects consist primarily of maintenance work during the spring and summer seasons, Lott said. This includes mulching, planting trees and removing invasive weeds hazardous to native species.
Arron Leonard, 20, a new Bellingham crew member, stands with one muddy boot on the blade of his shovel, his hands grasping the worn, wooden handle. His yellow hard hat glows in contrast to the gray shoreline of the lagoon. Still gazing into the distance, Leonard said he feels lucky his job doesn’t feel like work.
"It’s a great place to work in the sense that I’m not cooped-up inside all day," Leonard said. "I get to work around some amazing species. We see great blue heron hang out by the lagoon every day and we see eagles fly over the trees while we work."
Growing up around forests and hiking is what interested Leonard in working for the Corps. Until joining a crew, he said he never understood the hard work that goes into making trails and parks.
"There’s a select group of people who go out of their way, that take the initiative to repair and build trails," Leonard said. "Basically we help facilitate the outdoors for other people."
In the past few years the WCC has taken on some of the most challenging environmental projects in the Bellingham area, said Sue Madsen, environmental coordinator for the Department of Ecology.
During a harsh rainstorm in 2006, they transported salmon downstream, so the salmon could spawn and be monitored near Cemetery Creek, Madsen said.
"I was just amazed by the willingness of these kids to get out at four in morning or be out there at 2 a.m. moving fish," Madsen said. "It goes above and beyond the call of duty and they take that on while being enthusiastic about it and they have a good time," Madsen said.
As a Washington State Department of Ecology program, the two WCC crews in Bellingham are sponsored by the City of Bellingham.
"We can really save the city and the citizens a lot of money by having the WCC crews take on some of these restoration projects; doing the replanting or some light construction work that we’d otherwise be paying consultants city dollars for," Madsen said.
In 2007, the WCC Bellingham crew was recognized by the City Council and Mayor Tim Douglas for their outstanding service in support of the city’s habitat restoration, according to the WCC Web site. They were also named top conservation crew of the quarter in Washington by the Department of Ecology for raising over $25,000 for the Bellingham Food Bank.
Along with environmental restoration in Washington, the Corps also responds to emergencies outside the state. In 2006, the Bellingham crew spent two weeks in New Orleans repairing houses damaged by Hurricane Katrina.
Closer to home, Lott and her crew filled and stacked sandbags next to overflowing rivers during the Chehalis, Wash. floods this past December. Leonard said he joined the cleanup through the Red Cross, while others gave a helping hand in emergency shelters for victims of the floods.
"We got to see the affects the flood had on them," Leonard said. "We stopped by dairy farms where people lost their whole lives, their barns, their cattle, and their income. It was rewarding to actually help."
According to the Washington State Department of Ecology, today the Corps currently has up to 135 members, 26 crews and is stationed in 14 counties around the state. Members work four days a week, earn $7.93 per hour, receive a $4,725 AmeriCorps Education Award for completion of one year of service or 1700 hours, and are provided basic medical benefits.
As the Corps gives back to the community, the community should be thinking about giving back to the WCC and the environment they are protecting, Edwards said.
"If funding from the city should dry up or be redirected, what would be the outcome?" Edwards said.
As Volunteer Coordinator and a concerned Bellingham resident, Edwards believes that in an urban environment residents need to utilize and recognize those individuals who take the time to protect and monitor Bellingham’s valuable natural resources.
"One day we may not have these groups and then the responsibility will be on us," Edwards said.