State reviving Depression-era parks program

State reviving Depression-era parks program
Saturday, April 25, 2009 3:04 AM
By Suzanne Hoholik

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

Civilian Conservation Corps workers cut dead wood in Sequoia National Park, California, in 1933. Similar work awaits those in a new Ohio conservation program.
During the Great Depression, the federal government created the Civilian Conservation Corps to put unemployed men to work.

The workers improved parks, built roads, fought forest fires and planted billions of trees.

Ohio officials are using federal stimulus money to resurrect the idea and create the Recovery Conservation Corps, a program that aims to put 16- to 24-year-olds to work at state parks this summer.

"We have 752,000 man-hours of work that's shovel-ready within parks, preserves and wildlife areas," said Sean D. Logan, director of the Ohio Department of Natural Resources.

The program, expected to create 20,000 jobs, will be funded with $47 million in federal stimulus money.

The plan includes landscaping at Alum Creek State Park in Delaware County, trail repairs at Shallenberger Nature Preserve in Fairfield County and boardwalk work at Cranberry Bog Nature Preserve in Licking County.

Also on the to-do list: pick up litter, repair buildings and remove invasive plants.

"We will have more by the time those projects are over," Logan said.

The state is using an additional $2 million in stimulus money to take workers to job sites.

So, if you like being outside and think you can handle the work, go to your county One-Stop career location to see whether you're eligible.

The program is for low-income and disadvantaged people (dropouts, the homeless, those living with a disability).

Most of the jobs will run from June to September, but some could go longer, said Susan Crotty, deputy director of work-force development with the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services.

Several other states are creating similar programs.

To find the One-Stop location in your area, call 1-888-296-7541 and select option 2. Online, go to http://jfs.ohio.gov/workforce/jobseekers/onestopmap.stm. For more information about the work projects, go to http://ohiodnr.com/tabid/21629/Default.aspx.

shoholik@dispatch.com