The first Job Corps Conservation Center in the Southwest--and the second in the entire country-·-will be dedicated at Winslow, Arizona, March 12 by Secretary of the Interior Stewart L. Udall.
On the periphery of Navajo lands in Arizona, Winslow Center formerly was an Air Force Radar Base. The property is now administered by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Another camp organized in cooperation with the Department of the Interior was dedicated at Catoctin Mountain Park, Maryland, two weeks ago. It is administered by the Interior Department's National Park Service.
The Arizona site was selected by the Department of the Interior and the _ Office of Economic Opportunity, because of its proximity to the Navajo Indian reservation where the trainees will work on urgently needed conservation and land improvement projects. Also a factor in the choice of Winslow Base was the existence of ready facilities.
The Job Corps--created by the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 as one step in combating poverty--is designed to help young people who are jobless because they lack both skills and basic education. They may earn while they learn on conservation projects. A voluntary service, it is open to those between the ages of 16 and 21 who are out of school and out of work.
About 65 young men have moved into the Winslow Center, the first contingent of what is expected to be a 200-man center by next year. They represent a geographic cross-section of the Nation--Connecticut, Maryland, Kentucky, Texas, Colorado, California and Utah. None of them have completed high school and most have finished only a relatively few years of formal schooling.
A work and study schedule already mapped out for them is designed to bring each as far along in schooling as possible. At the same time, all will have an opportunity to test aptitudes and interests in a variety of jobs. Training will be offered in such camp-oriented occupations as plumbing and heating repair, automotive repair and maintenance, cooking, office work, outdoor conservation work, which will include elementary surveying, fencing, road improvement, forest clearing and seeding, earth dam construction, stream bank erosion control, fire prevention, and even restoration of Indian ruins. Classroom studies, while focusing on the Three R’s, will also include other subjects necessary in occupational training.
Some of the most interesting work projects for Winslow trainees will take place in the scenic wonderlands of Canyon Diablo, the Painted Desert and the archeological “digs" along the Little Colorado River. Construction of an earthen dam to impound 40 surface acres of water for fishing and boating is scheduled. Work on restoration of the Natani Ruins, consisting of 30 rooms, and several other minor ruins, will be directed by experts. Erecting guideposts and markers will complete development of the Navajo-owned area as a tourist attraction.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs participated with the Office of Economic Opportunity in selecting the l7-man Winslow Center staff, comprised of teachers, construction and conservation supervisors, guidance counselors, a nurse and a mechanic, as well as administrative and maintenance personnel The Director, Lee Brewer, of Mexia, Texas, is the former principal of the Indian boarding school at Chinle, Arizona. Deputy Directors are Daniel Meyer, a forestry specialist from Toppenish, Washington; Michael Papich, a public school teacher and counselor from Butte, Montana; and Harold L. Witten, a former administrative officer with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and a native of Anadarko, Oklahoma. In addition to the regular staff, six Indian employees of the Bureau--all counseling specialists-- have been detailed to the camp for the first phase of operations.
In announcing the scheduled Winslow Camp dedication, Secretary Udall commented:
"It is with deep satisfaction that I witness the role of the Department of the Interior growing into one of conservator of human resources, as well as of natural resources. Our land has value only to the degree that we value the human spirit. We are concerned that our forests and plains, our rivers and lakes, be preserved and enhanced. We should be even more concerned that the human mind be given every opportunity to grow. We hope the Job Corps camps will help do this.”
