The legacy of the Civilian Conservation Corps is alive and well in the Ozarks. Not only if you visit a state or national park like Roaring River, Bennett Spring, or Ozark National Scenic Riverways (just to name a few), where historic structures and infrastructure serve as a monument to FDR’s “Tree Army”, but also in a modern-day version in Southwest Missouri: The Watershed Conservation Corps.
The WCC was formed in 2017 by Caleb Sanders, an employee of the Watershed Committee of the Ozarks. Sanders was involved in the Student Conservation Association (SCA) and the Friends of the Forest Preserves, which hired inner-city youth to oversee 69,000 acres of nature preserve near Chicago, IL. During his time in both organizations, Sanders was aware of the links between today’s youth conservation corps and the CCC boys of the Great Depression.
“I worked on CCC legacy buildings owned by the Pennsylvania Department of Natural Resources, buildings that are still in use today. My supervisor and I cut down, milled, and built cabins out of the red pines that the CCC planted in the 1930s,” said Sanders. “I’d love to work on preserving CCC buildings, but that’s a different set of skills altogether.”
Nevertheless, the WCC has engaged in work like Roosevelt’s Tree Army. “When our crew worked in the Devil’s Backbone Wilderness of the Mark Twain National Forest re-routing trails, that is like stepping back in time,” said Sanders. “We work with crosscut saws and no chainsaws, very similar to the way the CCC did it.” (Chainsaws are prohibited in a wilderness area due to the Wilderness Act of 1964.)
When Sanders moved back to the Ozarks in 2017, he noted that there were not any established youth conservation corps in Missouri or Arkansas. “Parks and agencies were contracting with programs in Minnesota and Arizona to do work locally,” noted Sanders. While using out-of-state corps was getting projects done, it was not allowing Ozarks youth direct involvement in the projects.
Sanders saw a need, decided it was time to form a local corps, and approached the Watershed Committee’s board. “If I could fund it, and fund my position, we could do it,” stated Sanders.
A group of local students and young people working on regional conservation projects was a win for everyone. “These are our parks and forest after all, and the local knowledge and passion for place runs deep,” said Sanders.
During one recent project, a Corps member said, “Hey, I walked with my mom down this trail.” That personal attachment to a site means quality work. “No one is going to do bad work where your mom walks,” chuckled Sanders.
Critical for the WCC are partnerships with state and federal agencies and local nonprofits like the James River Basin Partnership. Sanders truly believes that such partnerships are key to the Corps’ success since its formation, noting that there would be no way for him to find, design, and implement effective projects alone– partnering with local groups and agencies allows for reciprocal support.
“We’re good about managing crews and doing the work, but the partners give us the design and ideas. We want something that will have the most impact,” noted Sanders.
In December 2020, the Corps planted over 400 trees and removed invasive species along Wilson’s Creek at Springfield’s Rutledge-Wilson Farm Park as part of a 319 Non-Point Source Pollution Grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources. For Sanders, it was truly a case of “low-hanging fruit”.
“The beauty of the project is that it is effective, impactful, and achievable. It’s not just for aesthetics, but, more importantly, it’s an effective way to protect local waterways,” said Sanders. He noted that planting trees in a riparian zone prone to flooding is a simple and effective way to protect urban streams. Creating a healthy riparian buffer along an urban stream like Wilson’s Creek will help reduce runoff and erosion and create a last line of defense against polluted stormwater runoff.
Invasive species such as Wintercreeper and Bush Honeysuckle, are overwhelming the riparian areas along our urban waterways. Sanders believes that invasive species will be a huge issue for the Ozarks for coming generations. He also believes that surgically focused campaigns like their recent work along Wilson’s Creek will be more successful than attempting large-scale ones.
And projects also allow members to interact with the public and educate them. “We were able to talk to folks walking on the Wilson’s Creek Greenway Trail about what we were doing,” stated Sanders.
And it is not just non-profit and government agencies the Corps partners with; in their first year of existence, Bass Pro Shops contracted the WCC to work on native prairie reconstruction at their national headquarters in Springfield.
Corps members are all from southwest Missouri, with one traveling every day from Joplin. Sanders noted that of their first cohort, 75% of them now have jobs in the natural resources field, and he expects that number to keep on growing. In 2020, the Corps was able to offer year-round employment to five students through a contract with the Heartland Inventory and Monitoring Network. Those Corps members worked at Wilson’s Creek National Battlefield, restoring, and preserving glades and prairie. In addition, each member was provided a living wage, health insurance, and educational benefits.
Today, there are 112 accredited youth conservation corps across the country, continuing the legacy of the CCC while focusing more on local projects. For Sanders, being the most impactful with funding and partners is key to success, as well as employing local individuals and giving them knowledge, skills, and training to be successful in the future. In that way, the “Tree Army” lives on in the Watershed Conservation Corps.
“We’re speaking the same language as the CCC, only in an Ozark dialect.”
We’ll see you on the river.
Todd
