Secretary of Agriculture Clifford M. Hardin and Secretary of the Interior Rogers C. B. Morton announced plans today to operate 56,Youth Conservation Corps camps this summer for eight weeks, starting late in June.
Camp sites have been selected in 36 States, the District of Columbia and American Samoa on lands administered by agencies in the two Departments.
Under provisions of a law signed by the President last August, about 2,200 young men and women, ages 15 through 18, will be employed. Comparing the YCC with other federal youth programs, the Secretaries said that the Job Corps Civilian Conservation Centers and the Neighborhood Youth Corps are also conservation oriented, but are primarily aimed at serving disadvantaged youth. The Youth Conservation Corps program is unusual, the Secretaries said, because it serves young men and women--within specified age limits--of all social and economic backgrounds.
The Secretaries said that the pilot nature of the program generally limits the selection of participants for each YCC camp to those who live within the boundaries of a school district--or the area served by a community youth organization --selected to recruit and process applicants for that camp. This is in accord with provisions of the legislation that Corps members shall be employed on conservation projects as near their places of residence as feasible. The Secretaries emphasized that no applications can be accepted from prospective YCC candidates until agreements have been reached with participating school systems or other youth-serving organizations. More information on this aspect of the program will be available about April 1.
Half the YCC participants will be employed in National Forests operated by the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service. The other half will be under the direction of the Department of the Interior on lands of the National Park Service, Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Territories and Bureau of Land Management.
The Secretaries of the two Departments stressed that the YCC won't be a "make-work" program. It is being designed, they said, to assure: (1) Buildup of environmental training for young people; (2) gainful summer employment for the Nation's youth; and (3) performance of needed conservation work to improve quality of public lands and water.
Secretaries Hardin and Morton explained that selections of sites for camps were directed by a very tight budget. They were made on the basis of (1) availability of existing facilities that could be readied with a minimum of time, work and money and (2) potential of the area for developing worthwhile conservation work-educational projects at or near the campsites.
The new law authorizes up to $3.5 million annually for a three-year period, of which $2.5 million has actually been appropriated. This money must cover the cost of operation of the eight-week session this year, as well as salaries for the young participants. Each member of YCC will be paid a fixed sum for the tour of duty. After deductions, take-home pay for each of the participants will amount to about $300 for the season.
In addition to the traditional separate camps for young men and women, there will also be co-educational camps. Most residential camps will have capacities for 50 Corps members each, although some may be as small as 11. Facilities will range from tents and rough bunkhouses to large barracks-type buildings. In some instances, small groups may occupy remote ranger stations.
Nonresidential camps will permit local youths to work and learn in the day and be transported home at night.
Aside from geographic criteria, eligibility requirements include such things as having reached 15 but not yet 19 years of age, being interested in conservation of the Nation's natural environment, having no history of criminal or anti-social behavior and having work permits in States where they are required. In general, the young people must be in good physical condition, although opportunities for the handicapped may be provided in some camps, if possible.
Attached is the list of camp sites.
National Park Service
Mount Ranier National Park headquartered at Longmire, Wash. Residential and co-educational. 32 male and 18 female participants. Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area at Digman's Ferry, Pa. Residential. 50 males. Catoctin Mountain Park at Thurmont, Md. Residential. 50 females Great Smokey Mountains National Park at Townsend, Tenn. Residential. 50 males Rocky Mountain National Park at Estes Park, Colo. Residential: 25 males. Everglades National Park at Homestead, Fla. Residential. 50 males Grand Canyon National Park at Grand Canyon, Ariz. Residential. 25 males Harpers Ferry National Historic Park at Harpers Ferry, W. Va. Non-residential and co-educational. 20 participants. National Capital Parks at Washington, D. C. Non-residential and co-educational 25 males and 25 females.
Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife
Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge headquartered at Carterville, Ill. Residential and co-educational. 25 participants Wheeler National Wildlife Refuge at Decatur, Ala. Residential and coeducational. 25 participants. Moosehorn National Wildlife Refuge at Calais, Maine. Residential and co-educational. 75 participants. Piedmont National Wildlife Refuge at Round Oak, Ga. Residential and co-educational. 25 participants. Noxubee National Wildlife Refuge at Brooksville, Miss. Residential and co-educational. 25 participants. Lamar National Fish Hatchery at Lamar, Pa. Residential and co-educational. 25 participants. Desert National Wildlife Range at Las Vegas, Nev. Non-residential and co-educational. 20 participants.
Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife
Montezuma National Wildlife Refuge at Seneca Falls, N.Y. Non-residential and co-educational. 20 participants. Laguna Atascosa National Wildlife Refuge at San Benito, Tex. Non-residential and co-educational. 25 participants.
Office of Territories
American Samoa. Non-residential and co-educational. 40 participants.
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Cherokee Indian Reservation at Cherokee, N.C. Residential and co-educational. 50 participants. Jones Academy of Bureau of Indian Affairs at Hartshorne, Okla. Residential and co-educational. 50 participants. Standing Rock at Wakpala, S.D. participants.
Bureau of Land Management
Lubrecht Forest at Greenough, Mont. Residential and co-educational. 50 participants. Reno, Nev. Offices of BLM. Participants. Non-residential and co-educational. 25 participants.
Bureau of Reclamation (Youth Conservation Corps Contractors)
Children and Youth Services Inc. at Salt Lake City, Utah. Residential and co-educational. 50 participants. Weber State College Division of Continuing Education in Ogden, Utah. Residential. 50 males. Big Bend Community College in Moses Lake, Wash. Residential and co-educational. 50 participants. Opportunities for Youth Corp. at Whittier, Calif. Residential and co-educational. 50 participants.
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Forest Service
Flathead National Forest headquartered at Kalispell, Mont. Residential. 30 male participants.
Lolo National Forest headquartered at Missoula, Mont. Residential. 20 female participants.
Lolo National Forest headquartered at Missoula, Mont. Residential. 25 males.
Black Hills National Forest, headquartered at Custer, S.D. Residential 30 females.
Cibola National Forest headquartered at Albuquerque, N.M. Residential 50 males
Santa Fe National Forest headquartered at Santa Fe, N.M. Residential. 30 females.
Wasatch National Forest headquartered at Salt lake City, Utah. Residential and co-educational. 25 males and 25 females.
Boise National Forest headquartered at Boise, Idaho. Residential. 40 males.
Sierra National Forest headquartered at Fresno, Calif. Residential. 50 males.
Cleveland National Forest headquartered in San Diego, Calif. Residential 30 females.
Shasta-Trinity National Forest headquartered at Redding, Calif. Residential 15 male and 15 female.
Angeles National Forest headquartered at Pasadena, Calif. Residential. 30 females.
Snoqualmie National Forest headquartered at Seattle, Wash. Residential and co-educational. 25 males and 25 females.
Gifford Pinchot National Forest headquartered at Vancouver, Wash. Residential. 30 males.
Ochoco National Forest headquartered at Prineville, are. Residential. 40 males.
Ochoco National Forest headquartered at Prineville, Ore. Residential 30 females.
Texas National Forest headquartered at Lufkin, Tex. Residential 32 males.
Ocala National Forest headquartered at Tallahassee, Fla. Residential 50 females.
Ouachita National Forest headquartered at Hot Springs National Park, Ark. Residential. 25 males.
Monongahela National Forest headquartered at Elkins, W. Va. Residential and co-educational. 25 males and 25 females.
Wayne-Hoosier National Forest headquartered at Bedford, Ind. Residential. 40 males.
Wayne-Hoosier National Forest headquartered at Bedford, Ind. Residential 11 females.
Ottawa National Forest headquartered at Ironwood, Mich. Residential 30 males.
Chequamegon National Forest headquartered at Park Falls, Wise. Residential and co-educational. 25 males and 25 females.
Chippewa National Forest headquartered at Cass Lake, Minn. Residential and co-educational. 25 males and 25 females.
Nicolet National Forest headquartered at Rhinelander, Wise. Residential. 35males.
Mark Twain National Forest headquartered at Springfield, Mo. Residential. 35 females.
Hiawatha National Forest headquartered at Escanaba, Mich. Residential. 36 males.
Pike National Forest headquartered at Colorado Springs, Colo. Non Residential and co-educational. 25 participants.
Coconino National Forest headquartered at Flagstaff, Ariz. Non-Residential and co-educational. 25 participants.
Daniel Boone National Forest headquartered at Winchester, Ky. Non-Residential and co-educational. 25 participants.
Kisatchie National Forest headquartered at Pineville, La. Non-Residential and co-educational. 25 participants.
White Mountain National Forest headquartered at Laconia, N.H. Non-Residential and Co-Educational. 25 participants.
