As droughts and wildfires continue to ravage California’s forests, there’s been an immense need to increase forestry conservation and natural resource management efforts. Now with the help from Congressman Jim Costa, our Local Conservation Corps will increase these efforts.
Fresno EOC Local Conservation Corps (LCC), received $500K funding secured by Congressman Jim Costa from the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. The grant will provide money for the Corps to purchase large-scale equipment to assist LCC Corpsmembers in firefighting and land conservation. In addition, Costa’s advocacy for this funding will allow Fresno EOC Local Conservation Corps to improve their forestry maintenance technology, create safer work environments and update training materials which will increase the Corpsmembers skillset and ready them for careers with agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service, Cal Fire, and the Bureau of Reclamation.
Since 1993, Fresno EOC LCC has provided no-cost, hands-on, paid training opportunities for members to work on federal public lands in project areas such as construction, forestry, trail maintenance, conservation, and disaster preparedness. In addition to their service, members are also required to enroll in an academic program (high school or college-level courses) for further skill-building.
With this funding, Fresno EOC LCC can improve much-needed debris-clearing processes necessary to prevent wildfires and provide top industry-standard training to crew members. Over the next 5 years, Fresno EOC LCC anticipates at least 100 trainees will directly benefit from this grant. We would like to thank Congressman Jim Costa for his efforts to advance this bill and his commitment to preserving our national forests and parks in Fresno County.