Utah Conservation Corps Gains Funding for Escalante River Restoration Project

 Grand Staircase Escalante Partners and the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument staff have awarded Utah Conservation Corps (UCC) $186,000 for Russian olive removal projects inside Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument in 2012 as part of the Escalante River Restoration Project.
 
In June, UCC crews will start the project by removing invasive Russian olive on the lower Escalante River in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. UCC crews will also complete removal of Russian olive in the Death Hollow and Sand Creek drainages of the Escalante River from late August through the end of October.
 
UCC crews will be working in conjunction with staff from Grand Staircase Escalante Partners and the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument to effectively complete the projects. Much of the project will involve backcountry camping in remote sites with gear hauled in by AmeriCorps crew members or by horse packers.
 
Noel Poe, President of Grand Staircase Escalante Partners, comments that “the Escalante River Restoration Project is an awesome project.  Whenever you get over 30 different entities signed on to any project, you can bet it is also important.  The UCC crews are center point in this project by cutting out the Russian olive. ”  
 
Last year, UCC began its partnership with Grand Staircase Escalante Partners and Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument by treating 12 acres of habitat in the Death Hollow area of the Escalante River.  AmeriCorps member Sam Stripes, who worked on this project last year, comments that “this is a great project that I’m looking to working on as it has huge watershed, wildlife, and ecosystem impacts.”
 
The UCC is an AmeriCorps program dedicated to developing the conservation leaders of tomorrow through service and education. In the last ten years the UCC, as a department of Utah State University Student Services, has constructed or maintained 808 miles of trail; built, repaired, or rehabilitated 84.7 miles of fence; restored 4,831 acres of public land; and harnessed over 5,700 volunteers contributing 19,500 hours of service. UCC has been a program in USU’s Division of Student Services since January 2001.
           
For information about the UCC’s Russian olive removal project, contact Damitz, 435-797-8134, sean.damitz@usu.edu.