An outdoor classroom for land stewardship—and life skills

Quinn Mendelson is Conservation Program Director of Rocky Mountain Youth Corps, a nonprofit that trains young adults to do conservation work in the "outdoor classroom" of New Mexico's landscapes. Not only do they learn skills like trail building, watershed restoration, and wildfire mitigation, but they also receive training that helps them to get jobs—as well as less quantifiable but just as important life skills like getting along with each other, finding their own authentic voices, and being in nature for long periods. The program has been going for three decades, and has led many of its alumni into fulfilling conservation careers. 

TIMELINE

 

3'27 what the corps is all about

4'18 conservation skills, professional skills, life skills

5'52 example of a river project

6'59 so good for young people to have these outdoor opportunities

7'33 adjusting to outdoor work

9'30 people slowing down in the wilderness, and building self-confidence 

11'31 paying living wages so the they can recruit from all demographics

13'50 bonding with people for life, and a tight alumni base, and those people work in every related field

15'43 the projects themselves, some using Bill Zeedyk techniques

18'13 showing the young people to see the big picture

18'46 creating a blueprint for post-fire restoration

19'52 coming back for additional years of work

21'12 relationship between the Corps and the surrounding communities 

22'54 the connection between this work and regenerative agriculture

24'54 young people with an ag background, or wanting to get into ag through learning conservation work

26'10 learning about soil is central to all the work they do

27'36 as Corps alumni take their place in agency and roles of responsibility, this could change how policy is shaped 

28'13 the way people are talking about fire now has evolved a lot in the last few decades

28'57 using beaver biomimicry

29'19 restoring firefly habitat in Chimayó, NM 

31'06 people coming back to see the work they've done in future years

32'38 other similar corps all over the US

33'07 there are fewer than 100,000 young people doing this work; there should be millions

33'51 scholarships for higher education

34'20 dream job for a young person

35'32 this is part of Americorps

37'27 Quinn's work on therapeutic ranches

39'01 this is so much about hope for him and the org

40'43 potential careers

43'05 the need for an educated conservation workforce is and will continue to be great

44'37 what kinds of knowledge each generation is given

46'33 passing the torch to younger generations

48'02 working easily with partners, and providing labor for projects