Lakes Region Conservation Corps

[AJames]

Just received this email from the Squam Lakes Association:



AmeriCorps Program Terminated

We’re writing with difficult news that will have an immediate and profound impact on the Squam Lakes Association and our work protecting the Squam watershed. On Saturday, we learned that our AmeriCorps program — the Lakes Region Conservation Corps — has been terminated effective immediately.



The Lakes Region Conservation Corps (LRCC) encompassed eight New Hampshire conservation organizations and 27 service members who are now impacted by this decision. The LRCC was one of over 1,000 AmeriCorps programs across the nation that were illegally and immediately terminated, which affects roughly 32,000 people who were serving communities across the nation.



Since 2017, the LRCC has been the driving force behind many of the conservation efforts of New Hampshire’s Lakes Region and beyond. LRCC members have contributed to hands-on conservation in a variety of ways, including: leading water quality science, removing invasive species, maintaining trail networks, educating the public on local and regional conservation initiatives, managing volunteer crews, and more.

Our first priority is to our current members who have had their program unjustly terminated. While the federal termination of the AmeriCorps program is devastating, we are not standing still. Please keep an eye out for future correspondence, because we will need your support and advocacy in the coming weeks.

[Descant]

What does this mean in terms of "lost" revenue to LRCC? How much of that was re-distributed to other groups? Name some, please. I know and have supported LRCT. Never had any awareness of LRCC.

[Garcia]

Originally Posted by Descant

What does this mean in terms of "lost" revenue to LRCC? How much of that was re-distributed to other groups? Name some, please. I know and have supported LRCT. Never had any awareness of LRCC.

LRCT is a host site for LRCC. My understanding is they are paid through LRCC and do work for LRCT.

[FlyingScot]

Originally Posted by Descant

What does this mean in terms of "lost" revenue to LRCC? How much of that was re-distributed to other groups? Name some, please. I know and have supported LRCT. Never had any awareness of LRCC.

It's not lost revenue, it's lost labor. The government pays the salaries of the Americorps workers, providing nonprofits such as Squam Lakes Association and Lakes Region Conservation Trust with low cost labor to do the kinds of things noted by the OP. So with the cancellation of the program, that's 32,000 people out of work, and a lot manual labor for nonprofits that will not be done.

[Descant]

Originally Posted by FlyingScot

It's not lost revenue, it's lost labor. The government pays the salaries of the Americorps workers, providing nonprofits such as Squam Lakes Association and Lakes Region Conservation Trust with low cost labor to do the kinds of things noted by the OP. So with the cancellation of the program, that's 32,000 people out of work, and a lot manual labor for nonprofits that will not be done.

"32,000 jobs lost" piqued my curiosity. There's some difference in concepts here. It appears AmeriCorps gives money to several NH organizations such as Mt Washington Observatory, LRCC, LRCT, Squam Lakes Assoc., etc. for example. AmeriCorps is mostly staffed by 500 people in Washington DC and they rely on the local groups for local management. The "members" who do the work are not paid, although they get some living expenses. They get ~$500 a month, called a "Segal Education Award" when they complete either the 6 month or one year training program. It appears there were 1900 such trainees in NH in 2024. So yes, there's some valuable manpower here and some undefined grants to local organizations, but unpaid trainees are not 32,000 jobs lost. Nevertheless, some loss to our local programs. I'm sure they will work hard to make up the difference. The annual budget for AmeriCorps is about $1.5 billion.

[WinnisquamZ]

Excellent. The labor pool does need more able bodies


Sent from my iPhone using Winnipesaukee Forum mobile app

[FlyingScot]

Originally Posted by Descant

"32,000 jobs lost" piqued my curiosity. There's some difference in concepts here. It appears AmeriCorps gives money to several NH organizations such as Mt Washington Observatory, LRCC, LRCT, Squam Lakes Assoc., etc. for example. AmeriCorps is mostly staffed by 500 people in Washington DC and they rely on the local groups for local management. The "members" who do the work are not paid, although they get some living expenses. They get ~$500 a month, called a "Segal Education Award" when they complete either the 6 month or one year training program. It appears there were 1900 such trainees in NH in 2024. So yes, there's some valuable manpower here and some undefined grants to local organizations, but unpaid trainees are not 32,000 jobs lost. Nevertheless, some loss to our local programs. I'm sure they will work hard to make up the difference. The annual budget for AmeriCorps is about $1.5 billion.

I wish you'd just say you don't like AmeriCorps. But let's not quibble on semantics. It's pretty straightforward--the "volunteers" or "trainees" were going to be paid "living expenses" and "awards" that are about the same low $ as similar jobs for young people. The local organizations were counting on that labor, and now they have no time or money to "make up the difference"

[John Mercier]

Originally Posted by FlyingScot

I wish you'd just say you don't like AmeriCorps. But let's not quibble on semantics. It's pretty straightforward--the "volunteers" or "trainees" were going to be paid "living expenses" and "awards" that are about the same low $ as similar jobs for young people. The local organizations were counting on that labor, and now they have no time or money to "make up the difference"

Plenty of opportunities. Just need to know where to look for them.

[FlyingScot]

Originally Posted by John Mercier

Plenty of opportunities. Just need to know where to look for them.

I agree there are plenty of opportunities and with your implication that every organization can be more efficient. But having worked with several nonprofits, the basic situation is that on any given day the group has about 20 to-do items, and only enough money for 10 of them.

They were already doing everything they could to get more donations and volunteers. So when they lose a bunch of cheap labor, they do 8 or 9 things instead of 10. For great local groups, like the Squam guys and LRCT, that's really a bummer

[John Mercier]

Other land owners are using everything from timber operations, to carbon tax mitigation sales, to leasing their motorized trails.

Many LRCT lands already have some of this, but looking deeper means more revenue without really that much more volunteer efforts.