40 Projects Will Employ and Train Youth

The New Mexico Youth Conservation Corps Commission (NMYCCC) announces funding for forty youth conservation and community programs in 2023. Awards totaling $4.3 million will be distributed to a variety of urban and rural entities in nineteen counties. Each program is locally based, employing crews of at least five youth. Altogether, about 650 New Mexico youth ages 14 - 25 will be hired in the areas where they live. The program is funded by governmental gross receipt taxes. 

“The Commission is delighted to approve funding for nearly all the proposals submitted,” said Amanda Getchell Stevenson, YCC Commission Chair. “Youth sign up for the paycheck but get hooked by the YCC experience. They do projects with their peers they can be proud of their entire lives.”

Projects this year involve post-fire restoration in northern New Mexico and the Ruidoso area; design and installation of sculptures in Albuquerque, and murals in Silver City; inventory and mapping of acequias and dams; planning trails and events for outdoor recreation in Hidalgo County; improving trails in Lincoln, Otero, Bernalillo, and Los Alamos counties; improving forest, rangelands, and recreational areas in five national forests; monitoring ecological indicators in a variety of habitats; and building shade structures at the Punkin Chunkin field in Estancia.  

Each awardee must provide training that expands on the work experience, including job, career and life skills, natural and cultural knowledge, and further education opportunities. Corps members that return to a YCC project may be eligible for a $1,500 further education voucher or a $500 additional cash compensation. 

“It’s the training component that makes a YCC program stand out,” said YCC Executive Director Sarah Wood. “Corps members may learn a skill that opens a whole new world to them.”

The details of each 2023 award recipient are listed below, and may also be found on https://www.emnrd.nm.gov/about-ycc/ycc-projects/  

Rural projects 

• Alamo Navajo School Board, $109.111.38. Restore walkways and a hogan and construct a Veteran’s Memorial.
• Conservation Legacy / Ancestral Lands – Acoma, $64,414.09. Learn the methods and traditions of the Acoma Pueblo Traditional Farm Corps, including traditional cooking, farming, and seed banking. 
• Forest Stewards Guild, Summer Project, $174,842.39. Carry out forest and rangeland projects and monitoring on Mt.Taylor, Coyote, Las Vegas/Pecos, & Mountainair Ranger Districts and the Jemez Pueblo.
• Forest Stewards Guild, Fall project, $174,667.32. Carry out forest and rangeland improvement projects on Mountainair and Espanola Ranger Districts and the Jemez Pueblo, and certify employees as wildland firefighters.
• Jemez Mountain Public Schools, $79,580.81. Improve and maintain ecosystems in and around Abiquiu Lake Vista Trail and at the JMPS campus. 
• Town of Estancia. $87,794.44. Construct shade structures the Punkin Chunkin field in Estancia.
• Town of Mountainair, $46,032.99. Improve public facilities at the rodeo grounds, rehabilitation of existing basketball courts, and refurbish a mural. 
• Village of Santa Clara. $31,301.06. Landscaping and trail building at Fort Bayard, and finish disc golf course. 
• Valencia Soil & Water Conservation District. $61,678.91. Fire mitigation, habitat improvement, trails improvement, and monitoring ecosystems.
• Eco Servants Lincoln and Otero Counties, $165,169.29 each. Improve recreational and forest lands in Lincoln and Otero Counties.
• Hermits Peak Watershed Alliance, Las Vegas, $59,259.79. Perform fire restoration projects in the Gallinas Canyon watershed.
• Spirit of Hidalgo, Lordsburg, $60,140.00. Inspect, develop, maintain trails and walking paths in and around Hidalgo County

Urban Projects

• Albuquerque Sign Language Academy (Honey Badger Crew), $174,644.48. Youth will learn about and perform conservation work at the Albuquerque Bio Park and Village of Los Ranchos Agri/Nature Center.
• Aldo Leopold Charter School, Silver City, Spring program, $174,045.00. Students work on public trails, install public art, perform landscaping and gardening at public parks, and monitor ecosystems in the Silver City area.
• Aldo Leopold Charter School, Silver City, Fall program, $107,216.00. Continuation of spring program for new students.
• Apprenticeships for Leaders in Mosaic Arts (ALMA), Albuquerque, $79,559.33. Design, fabricate and install mosaic sculptures at Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge.
• Aztec Schools, $143,423.88. Beautify, preserve and restore open spaces on school campuses in Aztec NM.
• City of Aztec, $42,923.97. Construct a pickleball court at Riverside Park in response to community requests.
• City of Bloomfield, $82,233.12. Improve the Vereda del Rio San Juan River trail in Bloomfield.
• City of Gallup $174,990.89. Rehabilitate & build trails, install signage and trail amenities in Gallup Red Rock trail system, urban trails, Hogback trails, High Desert, Ramah and Zuni Mountains.
• City Tucumcari, $80,598.64. Improve the recreation center, fitness course complex, little league field and various community areas in Tucumcari.
• Commons Center for Food Security & Sustainability, Silver City, $20,756.57.  Perform projects to serve the public. 
• Conservation Legacy – Bernalillo, $61,414.09. Learn about and perform conservation work at Bernalillo County Parks and Open Space.
• County of Bernalillo. $50,460.28. Increase access, educational opportunities, and perform stewardship at Bernalillo County Open Space agricultural properties.
• County of Rio Arriba, Substance Treatment and Outreach Prevention Program, Healing Memorial Project. $174,999. Build a retaining wall and landscape the Healing Memorial Garden next to the Rio Arriba STOP office. County of Rio Arriba, Substance Treatment and Outreach Prevention Program, Fairgrounds Project. $174,999. Make improvements to the paths, roads and RV sites at the Rio Arriba Fairgrounds.
• East Rio Arriba Soil & Water Conservation District. $43,595.32. Map acequias and resource concerns and perform dam inventory and assessments.
• Escuela del Sol Montessori (Harwood Art Center), $59,259.79. Design, fabricate and install entrance arch and garden for Mesa Verde Park in Albuquerque.
• Pueblo of Santa Clara. $120,103.39. Rehabilitate the Santa Clara canyon watershed and Pueblo settling ponds. 
• RFK Charter School, Albuquerque, $173,837.00. Experiential learning projects on the school's farm include building a hoop house, beekeeping, construction, gardening, farming, irrigation, and water conservation.
• San Juan College, Farmington, $175,000.00. Remove dying and diseased trees and provide maintenance and development for San Juan College Trail system; improve the disc golf course.
• RiverSource, Santa Fe, $121,889.52. Perform assessment monitoring and planning work in northern NM watersheds. 
• Rocky Mountain Youth Corps Upper Rio Grande, $165,065.08. Historic preservation in Taos Pueblo, construct trails at Los Luceros Historic Sites.
• Rocky Mountain Youth Corps Middle Rio Grande project, $134,138.30.  Improve the historic orchard at the NMSD campus; rebuild adobe masonry at the Pecos National Historic Park and assist with projects at Santa Fe's Railyard.
• Santa Fe Children's Museum Inc, $74,298.92. Improve the facilities and grounds of the Santa Fe Children's Museum.
• Talking Talons Youth Leadership, East Mountains, $58,046.05. Work on trails, access and infrastructure of public lands in the Village of Tijeras, Carlito Springs and the Sandia Mountains.
• Taos Land Trust, $135,206.64. Improve the Rio Fernando public park in Taos, while learning about regenerative agriculture.
• Family YMCA Los Alamos, $76,169.88. Rehabilitate and construct trails in Los Alamos County; install a disc golf course in the North Mesa picnic grounds.
• YouthWorks Inc., Santa Fe, $174,998.89. Improve open space areas in Santa Fe neighborhoods; and conduct agricultural projects at community farms.