Northwest Youth Corps - NYC Crew helps Triangle Lake School

BLACHLY — When 19-year-old Vincent Poturica joined the Northwest YouthCorps, he was at a crossroads. He just wasn’t sure what direction he needed to go.

A native of southern California, Potunca decided to leave Minnesota where he was attending college to live with his aunt and uncle in Eugene.

“I needed a job, so I applied,” Poturica said, referring to the day he joined the youth- based group.

That’s the way many people come to find the YouthCorps, said Jessica Ludy, who leads the crew that visited Triangle Lake School last week.

Ludy and the rest of her 11-member crew cleared brush and limbs along a clean 30-foot perimeter surrounding the school as part of a project aimed to protect the school from wildland fires.

Photo by Jeneca Jones. The 11-person Northwest Youth Corps crew made up of two crew leaders and nine youth members spent last week clearing brush, blackberry bushes and low-hanging branches around Triangle Lake School to reduce wildland fire dangers.

Ludy, her arms covered with small red scratches from clearing blackberry bushes, beams as she points to the areas where her crew has been working.

Low hanging branches and excess brush, which are often referred to by firefighters as “ladder fuels,” were removed within a 100-foot perimeter of the school.

“We’re pretty much getting rid off most of the dry stuff that could catch fire easily,” said 17-year-old YouthCorps member Khiera Williams.

The YouthCorps was hired to take part in a pilot program that was paid for with federal funding from the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act that was passed by the U.S. Congress in 2000.

YouthCorps received the grant award from the National Forest Foundation to support the training of up to 150 teens to complete similar activities in western Oregon in 2005.

Partners in the local pilot program were the Oregon Department of Forestry Western Lane Office, Lane County Emergency Management, Northwest YouthCorps, Triangle Lake School and Oregon Natural Hazards Work Group, which is a team of University of Oregon graduate students who put the plan together.

Triangle Lake received about $7,000 in ground work from the pilot, said Linda Cook, manager of the Lane County Emergency Management department.

Phil Hunter, prevention coordinator with Western Lane Forestry was instrumental in identifying Triangle Lake as a potential project site. Hunter and his family live in the Triangle Lake area.

“When I heard about the program, I immediately thought of Triangle Lake,” he said.

Hunter served as a technical advisor on the project.

Most schools are isolated and protected from wildfires, he said, but Triangle Lake is nestled against a heavily-wooded hillside.

Once the brush was removed, a local contractor was hired to haul it all away, he said.

Bob DeLa Vergne, superintendent at the school, said he couldn’t be happier about the work that was accomplished.

Not only will it help protect the school from wildfires, it also allows people to see into the trees better. Over the past few years, several cougars have been sighted roaming the edges of the school’s football field.

Members of the YouthCorps crew said they enjoyed having a hand in the project. Although some couldn’t help but look forward to Friday, when they would pack up camp and head to the YMCA for showers.

“Friday is pretty much the favorite day around here,” Poturica said, but added that he’s enjoying his time with the YouthCorps despite the lack of showers.

The Northwest Youth Corps is a job training, outdoor education, employment and youth development organization that has served over 7,700 young people in a variety of programs since it was established in 1984.

The programs combine education and job training with employment for teens, ages 14 to 19. Under staff supervision, youth crew members work on conservation, reforestation, and recreation projects, and learn valuable lessons of teamwork and responsibility.

Crews camp in the field for several weeks, traveling from project to project. The crew that came to Triangle Lake School camped at the old Horton Road mill pond when they weren’t working at the school.

YouthCorps operates in partnership with various project sponsors including the U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Parks and Recreation and several county parks departments.

“We’re really excited about being here, Ludy said, who is known by her crew members as “Queen of the Forest.”

For Poturica, the YouthCorps has pro vided what he was looking for -- hard work, time outdoors and a chance to meet some new people.

“This is exactly what I need right now in my life,” he said, “It’s fun, and our crew leaders are fantastic.”

His crewmate agrees.

“We have actually gotten pretty close the past two weeks,” said 19-year-old crew member Jake Dalgarn. “The red crew is the bombdigity.”

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