Friends of Sloan Canyon is proud to announce the return of a local annual program called From Military Service to Green Service with a generous $40,000 grant from NV Energy Foundation. In partnership with the NV Energy Foundation, the Bureau of Land Management, and Great Basin Institute, this project supports recently discharged military veterans seeking career opportunities in natural resource management. The recruits are trained to become part of the Nevada Conservation Corps and assigned to a six-week detail performing trail repairs, signage installation, and other on-site work at Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area. This is the fifth year NV Energy Foundation has supported this program providing a unique opportunity for veterans to gain work experience for a post-military career managing our nation’s public lands.
“Sloan Canyon National Conservation Area is a special place, with amazing cultural resources, desert wildlife, and exotic geology right next door to the City of Henderson” said Jim Stanger, Board President of Friends of Sloan Canyon. “We are extremely grateful for NV Energy Foundation’s support and commitment to helping provide veterans with work experience, and support for Southern Nevada’s public lands—lands that are enjoyed by so many people and contribute to Nevadans’ quality of life.”
Members of prior years’ Veterans Conservation Corps have gone on to work in wildland firefighting teams or have taken specialist or ranger positions with Bureau of Land Management or other federal land management agencies. This year’s Veterans Conservation Corps is just starting their detail and will be building and repairing trails in and around the North McCullough Wilderness area. Near the end of their detail they will receive their “red card”, the first stages of training on an optional path to joining national wildland firefighting crews. Crew members also receive AmeriCorps education awards that may be applied for college classes or to pay student loans.
To find out more about the program visit: friendsofsloan.org/vcc