Each year, thousands of volunteers across the country participate in the largest single-day volunteer effort for public lands in America, National Public Lands Day. Students and staff of the Oconaluftee Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center contributed over 250 hours of service on the Nantahala and Pisgah National Forests as a part of this year’s efforts.
A group of U.S. Forest Service Job Corps facilities maintenance students worked with the national Cradle of Forestry office center in the Pisgah National Forest to enhance public facilities there. They took on a conservation project to increase weed suppression for converting turf grass into wildflower meadows as well as undertaking general landscaping maintenance.
The Cradle of Forestry, a 6,500 acre historic site set aside by Congress to commemorate the beginning of forestry conservation in the United States, has hosted visitors for a century. The site offers a snap shot of life at America’s first school of forestry along the Biltmore Campus Trail near Brevard, N.C. and continues a legacy of forest conservation history.
Devin Gentry, education and outreach specialist for the Cradle of Forestry in America Interpretive Association, was thankful for the volunteer support. “The crew was great and we got a lot accomplished. I’d love to have them back in the future,” he said.
From The USDA Blog: https://blogs.usda.gov/2012/11/08/north-carolina-forest-service-job-corps-students-improve-historic-site/