National Conservation Crews

If you are currently in High School, between 15 and 19 and looking for tuition-free summer service opportunities, SCA's National Conservation Crews are for you. There's work to be done in all 50 states -- in parks and forests, on beaches and riverbanks, at fisheries and volcanoes. You could be there, carving trails across tundra, building rock steps up woody slopes, constructing foot bridges over marsh lands...

With your crew of 6-8 students from across the country and  two experienced leaders, you'll be up early, rain or shine, felling trees, prying rocks from the ground, building lean-tos, and removing invasive plants. You will become proficient at filtering water and cooking over a 2-burner propane stove. You will learn to use a pulaski to grub and to dig a backcountry latrine and respect leave-no-trace ethics.

While learning outdoor skills, you will also work with others to solve tough problems, be part of a team to run your camp -- cooking, cleaning, sharing responsibilities -- and get in awesome physical shape.

We run crews in three different tracks and they can be 15 to 35 days in length. The 2010 tracks are as follows:

• June 10th - Track I
• July 8th - Track II
• July 22rd - Track III

Please read on and when you are ready, you can apply online. But first, take a minute to view photos and video submitted by crew members from  this past summer.