June 4-11, 2014:
The 2014 Wilderness Conservation Corps (WCC) crew kicked off their field season in early June. During their first hitch, they spent 8 days in the Citico Creek Wilderness. The Citico Creek Wilderness is located in Monroe County, Tennessee, and is managed by the Tellico District of the Cherokee National Forest. The area boasts beautiful rivers for fishing, kayaking, and swimming.
The crew worked on the Mill Branch and Crowder Branch trails, and the Fodderstack trail section of the Benton MacKaye Trail. The crew completed the following accomplishments during their hitch:
300 hours of stewardship towards the improvement of Wilderness recreation;
Brushed 2 ¼ total miles across three trails; and
Removed 19 total trees blocking the trail corridors.
Check out photos from the crew's first hitch!
The Wilderness Conservation Corps (WCC) crew is a seasonal crew program of the Southern Appalachian Wilderness Stewards (SAWS), a program of The Wilderness Society. The WCC program offers work experience for individuals with interest in conservation and public lands protection. Through the completion of stewardship projects and conservation education, the WCC crew program creates economic development through improvement of recreation areas; a new pipeline of conservation students with outdoor leadership skills; hands-on job training; increased public awareness of wilderness values and land management; and a more integrated stewardship community.