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Department of Ecology Press Release - September 22, 2005
05-237
OLYMPIA - The Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) will hit the road today, heading to Mississippi with WCC pick-up trucks loaded with pumps, generators and chain saws to help out with Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.
Department of Ecology Director Jay Manning will bid good bye and good luck to 24 WCC crew members and their supervisors today at the Ecology headquarters building in Lacey. Manning's Ecology Department oversees the WCC program, through which young adults earn job training and college tuition.
The move is the state's largest non-military deployment to the relief effort. The largest deployment was sent by the Washington Army National Guard.
"I am honored to send these highly trained young people to assist in such a dire time of need," said Jay Manning, Ecology Department director. "Our Washington Conservation Corps members are highly skilled and are prepared to respond to disasters. For the last 15 years they have responded to forest fires, oil spills, floods, hurricanes and tornados, so this is what they do best."
Manning noted that WCC crews logged 15,000 hours of response time in Florida in 2004.
The WCC crews will first head to Biloxi and Jackson in southern Mississippi, where they will assist with unloading and dispersing goods and materials arriving from across the nation and around the world.
Eventually, they will secure tarps on damaged roofs and will assist with minor home repair alongside the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and various non-profit groups. These combined efforts will focus on the elderly, disabled and other special-needs people. In addition, WCC crews will assist in damage assessment surveys and support collaboration among the many volunteer groups participating in the relief effort.
The first crew leaves today, according to Rob Spath, who manages the WCC program for Ecology. The crew will return home after 30 days and will be replaced by another crew. The crews will cycle through the project every 30 days until the mission is completed, he said. Spath expects the assignment to last until the end of the year and that the next wave might increase to 40 crew members.
Some of the funding for WCC crew members salaries comes from a grant from Americorps. Travel, lodging, food and crew supervisor salaries and gear costs are reimbursed through the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Americorps is part of the rapid-response plan within the Department of Homeland Security. The Washington Conservation Corps was established in 1983 as a job training program for young adults from the ages of 18-25. The WCC is a continuation of the legacy left by the Civilian Conservation Corps of the 1930s. The program provides work experience and skills for projects that support conservation, rehabilitation, and enhancement of the states natural, historic, environmental and recreational resources.
Today the WCC has more than 125 members working on projects in every part of the state.
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Note to editors: Here are names and home towns of WCC crew members who are participating in this effort (* denotes supervisors).
Bob Milner,* Wenatchee
Ben Valdez, Wenatchee
William Sand, Wenatchee
Stephen Whetherhult, Tucson, Arizona
Apollo Stone, Tucson Arizona
Kevin Robbins, Montesano
Michael Koenen,* Bellingham
Justin Lamb, Bellingham
Amber Smith, Bellingham
David Phinney-Johnson, Kalamazoo, Michigan
Krista Megal, Bellingham
Brittany Melo, Bellingham
Rob Crawford,* Burlington
William Simpson, Spokane
Ben Betz, Olympia
Jackie Gauthier, Burlington
Vanessa Lott, Deming
Dalton Goodwin, Olympia
Ted Dewees,* Olympia
James Herbert, Baltimore, Maryland
Kim Hernandez, Olympia
Chris Humann, Lafayette, California
Ronnie Hoover, Olympia
Joseph Phelan, Olympia
Contact: Sandy Howard, acting communications director, 360-407-7004; cell 360-791-9830
Ecology's Web site about WCC crews: http://www.ecy.wa.gov/programs/sea/wcc/index.html
Copyright © Washington State Department of Ecology. See http://www.ecy.wa.gov/copyright.html.
