Current Projects

Environmental Maintenance

June 2000

Green Futures and the Massachusetts Forest and Parks Americorps Program

This past summer, Green Futures was fortunate to receive the help of the AmeriCorps Conservation Interns to work on a few of our many environmental projects. We received a grant that allowed 6 young adults: Chris Blundy from South Carolina, Dylan Kilmer and Erin Riley from Montana, Jeremy Mularella from Massachusetts, Hannah Surabian from Maine and Hannah Walsh from California, to clean and reblaze the route of our 17-mile Big Walk and to clear out a lot in the Dr. Durfee's Mill area for a woodcock (ground nesting bird) habitat area.

For those of you who are not familiar with this program, the following information is from their Fact Sheet: (more information can be acquired by calling 1-800-942-2677 or visiting www.americorps.org)

About Americorps

AmeriCorps, the domestic Peace Corps, engages more than 40,000 Americans in intensive, results-driven service each year, through more than 500 programs. Most AmeriCorps members are selected by and serve with local and national organizations like Habitat For Humanity, the American Red Cross, Big Brothers/Big Sisters, and Boys and Girls Clubs. Others serve in AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America) and AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps). After their term of service, AmeriCorps members receive education awards to help finance college or pay back student loans.

AmeriCorps members train volunteers; tutor and mentor at-risk youth; build affordable housing; clean up rivers and streams; help seniors live independently; provide emergency and long-term assistance to victims of natural disasters; and meet other community needs.

AmeriCorps VISTA members have served economically challenged communities for more than 30 years. The program is dedicated to increasing the capability of people to improve the conditions of their own lives. Members of AmeriCorps VISTA serve full-time and live in the communities they serve, creating programs that can continue after their service is complete.

AmeriCorps NCCC is a ten-month, full-time residential service program for men and wmen age 18 to 24. Members help meet the nation's critical needs in the areas of education, public safety, the environment, and other human needs. AmeriCorps NCCC combines the best practices of civilian service with the best aspects of military service, including leadership and team building.

The Corporation for National Service - which oversees AmeriCorps, Learn and Serve America, and the National Senior Service Corps - works with governor-appointed state commissions, nonprofits, faith-based groups, schools, and other organizations to provide opportunities for Americans of all ages to serve their communities.

About the Americorps Members

Our 6 Interns were a section of a group of 20 young people from all across the country who worked their way through an application process to be chosen to participate in this program. According to the AmeriCorps Handbook, their committment is not only to the service they will be performing, but also to each other and the ideals that have brought them together. Fairly unique among AmeriCorps programs, this program is residential. The members and the staff all live together in facilities at Dubuque State Forest in Hawley, MA. The members sleep in a large open bunkhouse, share meals in a dining hall, hike up a hill to the bathhouse, and share in the duties to make it all comfortable. Living as a community for 10 months plays a large role in how things are done within the program and greatly impacts the experience of the members. These are people who know each other well, who are experienced with working through growth and conflict, and who developed a natural cooperation with each other for resources and support. They are a team in the strongest sense of the word: a group of individuals, each with their own skills and experience, who, by coming together, make the whole stronger than the sum of the parts.

Our Experience

The Conservation Interns arrived at the Fall River/Freetown State Forest at the beginning of the last week of June to begin work. Steve Bates, Director of the State Forest, made them welcome and helped them set up a campsite near forest headquarters. Green Futures members Everett Castro, writer of the grant, Tim Bennett, President of Green Futures and Sue Shea, overseer of the week's assignments, met them and together the work was planned out.

The Interns were a personable, talented and well-skilled group. They worked well together, using chainsaws, axes, branch clippers and other equipment. They accomplished all the chores we asked them to do. Sue Shea worked along side them, part of the time, clearing the lot for those lucky woodcocks and widening the overgrown path to Dr. Durfee's Mill. The Interns mentioned that they enjoyed working side-by- side with members of the various service partners and they enjoyed this type of outdoor work.

As a volunteer and non-profit environmental group, we, Green Futures, were delighted to have AmeriCorps help us catch up with our ever-growing list of projects. They were great people who did great work. Perhaps we'll be fortunate enough to work alongside them again in the future.

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