MSI Helps Bring Southwest Conservation Corps Youth Crew to Silverton!
Posted by SCC on Wednesday, August 17th, 2011.CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE WITH PICTURES!
On April 13th, 2011 Gov. Hickenlooper announced $1 million in Great Outdoors Colorado/Colorado Lottery money would be made available to fund youth trail crews throughout the state. The initiative was designed to address both youth unemployment and lack of funding for open space initiatives in the face of a harsh economy. Any county or municipality with parks, trails, or open space projects was eligible to apply to host one of these crews and have them work in their community.
The Town of Silverton and Mountain Studies Institute (MSI), collaborated to author a winning grant and have been collaborating ever since to prepare for the ten person crew that arrived in Silverton on July 11, 2011. The grant represents $8,820 in skilled labor for the Town of Silverton with absolutely no matching costs for the town or county.
The crew is made up of eight 15-17 year olds and two adult leaders. They will be spending a week and a half in Silverton to make progress on the Animas River Corridor Revitalization Plan. The Town of Silverton has been working with MSI since 2008, when the Town and County Trails plan was first approved to seek outside funding for trails initiatives in town. One of the major goals of the project is to create a usable river trail that will benefit locals, recreationists, and train tourists.
The project has been seriously road-blocked by negotiations with the Public Utilities Commission concerning crossings of the railroad tracks that would be necessary for such a trail system. Similar setbacks are being negotiated in Durango. In the interest of saving money, Silverton has been awaiting these outcomes to assess how to best move forward with this project.
The crew will work to finish a stretch of trail between the Visitor Center and the Depot that will one day connect to a larger system of trails. The hope is that utilizing these youth to complete a large section will add momentum to the project and also create a new park space in town.
Since the trail will not be able to connect to its larger framework, the idea is to develop this area as a “pocket park” with benches and art installations to serve as a new outdoor space until it can connect to the larger framework.
The youth currently working in Silverton are from all over Colorado and are spending 4 weeks away from home during their summer vacation to do trail work. When asked why they signed up for the program, one crew member claimed. “I did this last summer and I loved getting away from everything and having an outdoor experience.”
Crew leader, Emily Bauder said, “It feels great to be working in a community on a project that will hopefully benefit the town.”
Click here to see a video of the crew hard at work and the area between the Visitor’s Center and the Train Depot that they will be improving with 900 feet of new trail!
