Next's Word of Thanks-Deploy Fire Mitigation Crews

You can protect Colorado’s forests and communities from growing threats of catastrophic wildfire. Through this campaign, we are asking you to support two urgent wildfire mitigation projects, led by Southwest Conservation Corps (SCC) and Rocky Mountain Youth Corps (RMYC). 

With your generosity, each corps will complete a week of fire mitigation in high-priority areas of the state, helping protect communities, public lands, and critical watersheds. This work includes thinning overgrown forests, removing smaller trees that help fires "climb" into the canopy, and remove dead trees that make fires burn hotter and faster.  

Your contribution makes possible:

Project 1:  Protect Durango's Drinking Water--Southwest Conservation Corps: $15,000

SCC will deploy a crew this fall to complete 100 feet of a strategic fuel break along the Florida River corridor, a main source of drinking water for the City of Durango.  Working adjacent to San Juan National Forest, the crew will remove Gambel oak and thin ponderosa pine. This buffer zone will help prevent wildfire from spreading into neighborhoods outside of Durango and protect the city's drinking supply.  

Project 2:  Priority Fire Mitigation in Routt National Forest near Steamboat--Rocky Mountain Youth Corps: $15,000

RMYC will deploy a crew in late September to Hahn’s Peak/Bears Ears District of the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest.  The crew will thin overgrown forest stands and remove hazardous fuels in critical areas identified by the US Forest Service to protect nearby communities and infrastructure from the risk of catastrophic wildfire.  This is a high-priority project which the US Forest Service lacks the capacity to accomplish this year.  

You are making it possible for youth, young adults, and veterans serving at conservation corps to do critical hands-on projects protect our iconic public lands.  

With your support, this campaign will fund 19 jobs for corps members who are trained and certified to use chainsaws on wildfire mitigation projects.

Your donation doesn't just save lives—it helps change them.  These projects will give young people critical experience and build career pathways in service to communities.  You can help build Colorado's next generation of wildland firefighters.  

 The Colorado Youth Corps Association (CYCA) serves as the fiscal agent for this campaign, passing through 100% of your donation to the field. SCC and RMYC are two of the eight corps accredited by the Colorado Youth Corps Association.  Any excess funds will directly support additional wildfire mitigation projects in the next 12 months.  

Many thanks to Next with Kyle Clark's Word of Thanks for making this campaign possible!