The St. Lawrence County Youth Conservation Corps (YCC) is celebrating its 34th year this summer. The program is recognized for the employment of adolescents ranging in age from 14 to 18, in order to complete various projects that are necessary to conserve and preserve the environmental beauty that our county possesses.
The YCC is a summer learning program which engages adolescents in the activities of trail planning and maintenance as well as the construction of state and county forest lands. These ambitious teens work in crews under the direction of a crew supervisor and two coordinators.
The crews will work 7:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m., Monday through Wednesday leaving the crew members with an extended four-day weekend. The program began on July 6 and ends on August 11.
The crews will work in all areas of St. Lawrence County and will participate in a variety of outdoor service projects ranging from trail maintenance to cemetery preservation. The YCC will also work closely with Pat Whalen of the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) where they will help maintain and clear various recreational trails around the county.
The YCC crews are funded through several different grants that Youth Bureau Director, Joanne Sevick, requests for every summer. This year’s YCC program is made possible through the financial support from Department of Social Services, St. Lawrence County Board of Legislators, Office of Children and Family Services, donated stock from the Harriet and Joseph Sevick Foundation, Dorothy McNeil Trust Fund and the Sweetgrass Foundation.