The ANF hosted a crew of high-school-aged students at the Bradford Ranger District through the Student Conservation Assocation.

“For six weeks, the crew worked tirelessly on projects throughout Allegheny National Forest while also learning about the work of the U.S. Forest Service and local conservation issues,” Public Affairs Officer Christopher Leeser said.

The crew included high school students from Warren and McKean counties: Devin Colosimo, Noah Archer, Timothy (TJ) McAulay, Levi Wilson, and Evan Swanson, along with their Crew Leader Ryan Galbreath, Leeser said.

Asked about the importance of the program and why he wanted to be a part of it, Colosimo said, “Without nature, what do we really have?”

Photo courtesy the Student Conservation Association ANF summer youth crew members peel bark from cut saplings to use as erosion control along a hiking trail.

“Work can still be fun by working with the forest,” Wilson said.

“Working together, this crew of young people completed several natural resource and recreation projects across Allegheny National Forest,” Leeser said. “They also learned about public resource management and career opportunities that the Forest Service and other state and local governments offer.”

Projects the crew worked on and visited include:

¯ construction of a turnpike along Hector Falls Trail — collaboratively with the summer youth crew based out of the Marienville Ranger District;

¯ planting trees, placing a transmitter on a wood turtle, and repairing and installing kestrel and wood duck boxes – with the wildlife team;

Photo courtesy the Student Conservation Association ANF summer youth crew installing predator protection below a newly installed wood duck nesting box.

¯ designating wildlife trees in a timber unit and cruise trees for a timber sale, visiting and learning about timber sale sites and road reconstruction sites – working with the timber crew;

¯ conducting overstory and understory inventory and assisting with tree planting, and touring age, class, and treatment areas and prescribed fire areas – with the silviculture team;

¯ weeding, mulching, watering, and planting at pollinator gardens across the district; and

¯ visiting cultural sites and viewing a proposed archaeology work site with the archaeology team.

“This crew of hard-working students was made possible through a partnership with federal and local governments, as well as the non-profit organization, Student Conservation Association (SCA),” Leeser said. “The crew was sponsored and directed as a Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) crew by Allegheny National Forest, recruited by the SCA, with educational programming conducted by the Elk County Conservation District (ECCD).”

Elk County Conservation District (ECCD) provided educational programming for the youth crew, Leeser said. “The model for the YCC program is to provide one day of educational activities each week of the program.”

“Victoria Challingsworth of ECCD worked with Allegheny National Forest to develop a comprehensive educational program for the crew,” he said. “Each week, they provided a focused educational curriculum that covered topics such as stormwater and flood control, aquatic organism passages, municipal water treatment, waste management and recycling, invasive species, and forest management practices.”

“The Student Conservation Association was the right partner for this initiative, and they did a wonderful job leading the crew,” Bradford District Ranger Richard Hatfield said. “This program would not have been as successful without Elk County Conservation District’s Victoria Challingsworth managing the crew’s environmental education days. Together, we created an outstanding program for the students and fostered lifelong ethics in environmental conservation and community involvement.”