Lower Suwannee Refuge Hire Four Youth Conservation Corps

For the next eight weeks, the students whose names were drawn out of a hat for the 2012 Youth Conservation Corps, will work with the professionals at the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge. Each year, students from the tri-county area apply to work alongside the forester, the rangers, heavy equipment operators, and the firefighters in order to get a taste of some of the best jobs the area has to offer. While earning money for their labor, they also are exposed to the hundreds of great careers the US Fish and Wildlife Service has to offer nationwide.

This year, a pair of cousins from Old Town, and two Chiefland students have been working across the Refuge maintaining recreation sites for visitors. Projects coming up will provide seating, a bulletin board, and informative signs for visitors to Shell Mound. They`ll also add a front porch to the Refuge classroom, enhance Dennis Creek foot bridges, and help with kids` outdoor programs.

YCC 2012: Cheyenne Stemple, Elizabeth Okahara, Eli Long, and Joshua Roberts taking a break at Salt Creek, near Suwannee.

Joshua Roberts who has been volunteering at the Lower Suwannee NWR for nearly two years says, "I was shocked to find out that I was chosen and so far I love the job." Paying-it-forward really paid-off for Joshua.

"It took two weeks for us to hear, so I thought I wasn`t getting the job. I was surprised when Ranger Pam called with the offer", stated Elizabeth Okahara. She had first met the Ranger years ago at Whispering Winds School as a fourth grader and most recently, at Chiefland High School`s Career Day where she obtained the job application.

The Youth Conservation Corps has made several sightings of wildlife including bobcats, alligators, swallow-tailed kites, and barred owls. While preparing recreation sites for the rising waters of the oncoming storm last week, two of the YCC were irresistibly drawn to the high wind and the rush of rising waters. Working outdoors in the midst of nature`s glory is one of the benefits Refuge staff experience on a regular basis.

"This gets their foot-in-the-door," says heavy equipment operator and crew boss, Jason Coates. "There are hundreds of US Fish and Wildlife Service entry jobs across the country available to bright graduates; we hope to aim these students in that direction."