Washington Conservation Corps gears up for another year of service

In July, the state’s Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) opened recruitment to fill more than 250 member positions across the state that will start on Oct. 1.

WCC is a career-development program within the State Department of Ecology, providing hands-on experience, mentorship and professional networking opportunities to young adults ages 18-25 and military veterans of any age.

Members serve their communities by completing environmental projects for a network of more than 100 partners. According to an Ecology news release, five-member field crews and individual placement members take on a variety of critical activities including:

• Removing harmful invasive plant species.
• Restoring habitat along streams and other waters.
• Improving outdoor recreation such as campsites and trails.
• Contributing to scientific monitoring and research, including salmon restoration and protection.
• Leading environmental education events for youth.
• Responding to local disasters such as wildfires, floods, landslides, oil spills and hazardous material releases, and severe weather.

A WCC service year starts Oct. 1 and ends the following September. During that time, members typically plant 400,000 native trees and shrubs, improve 3,000 acres of habitat, and build and maintain more than 400 miles of trails.

During the current 2024-25 service year, field crew members supported critical restoration and recreation projects, including treating invasive knotweed in the upper Skagit River basin, constructing a sustainable, erosion-resistant trail to Ruby Beach in Olympic National Park, and removing storm debris after an unprecedented “bomb cyclone” hit Western Washington in November 2024.

Members in the Individual Placement program supported scientific monitoring by tracking cobble rocks along a dynamic revetment project at North Cove beach in Pacific County, supported a project to establish a new forest in Snohomish County, and led watershed science programs for elementary school students in Port Angeles.

Besides these projects, members participated in two weeks of professionally taught training. The WCC catalog includes more than a dozen career-development courses such as wildland firefighting, wilderness first aid, hazardous waste operations and emergency response, wetland delineation, ethnobotany and swift water rescue.

WCC and AmeriCorps

In 1994, WCC joined forces with the federal AmeriCorps program. This long-standing partnership enabled WCC to grow the program in Washington, diversify its projects, and expand member benefits through the AmeriCorps education award, student loan assistance and more.

However, sweeping federal cuts to the national AmeriCorps program have delayed the grant awards the Ecology Department receives. This may adversely affect the department’s partnership with AmeriCorps, including Ecology’s ability to offer AmeriCorps-specific benefits during its upcoming 2025-26 service year. Despite this uncertainty, the state WCC budget has been built to offer stability for WCC programming in the next biennium with or without AmeriCorps funds.

Join WCC

WCC member positions are open to young adults, ages 18-25, military veterans and people with mental or sensory disabilities. All members receive a living allowance twice a month, health insurance, mental health services and professional training.

To apply:

• Review eligibility requirements.
• View the web map to locate openings and read position descriptions.
• Submit an  online application. Note that Individual Placement positions may require a resume and cover letter in addition to the online application.

The 11-month positions start service Oct. 1, 2025, and run through Sept. 10, 2026. Crew supervisors schedule interviews for field crews on a rolling basis, so its recommended you apply soon. For questions about recruitment, contact wccactivities@ecy.wa.gov.

Partner with WCC

Does your public agency or nonprofit organization have an environmental project that could benefit from WCC services? WCC works with more than 100 partners every year, including cities, counties, tribes and nonprofit organizations that provide restoration- or recreation-based projects for crews and Individual Placement members. Applications to partner with WCC during the 2026-27 service year will open this winter.

Learn more about partnering with WCC here and sign up for the partner email list here to be notified when partner application opens.