News Letter: Spring 2024

RMYC Newsletter: June 2024 Update!

Welcome to the RMYC Newsletter, our way of catching you up on all the great things RMYC as we head into our exciting upcoming season. With our 30th anniversary under our work belts and new CEO Ryan Banks taking the helm from retired founder Gretchen Van De Carr, we’re looking forward to another action-packed summer of trail work, fire mitigation, habitat restoration projects, educating youth and more across the great lands of Colorado. Following is a roundup of the fun-filled season ahead.


RMYC Kicks Off Summer Season

The 2024 summer season is upon us, and all hands are on deck to make it better than ever. Crew Leader Training is currently underway, featuring Wilderness Medicine courses, Chainsaw 212 certifications (maybe you’ve heard the buzzing around our headquarters), Mental Health First Aid, Positive Youth Development and more. All this comes in addition to trails, risk management and other field-related topics that our instructors and leaders are busy, busy, busy taking care of before our first crews head out.


Meet Our New Staff!

Several other members of the executive, administrative, and seasonal leadership teams will join Ryan Banks in his new role as CEO. They are all putting their best foot forward to make the 2024 RMYC season better than ever. Come inside and meet them HERE.


Intern Orientation

Our internship program is also underway, with all internships designed to engage young people in valuable work experiences within natural resources management agencies and non-profits. RMYC supports all internships while they work under the daily supervision of the hosting public lands management agency or nonprofit. Partners include the USFS, BLM, NPS, and other agency and nonprofit partners. Upon successful completion and at least 640 hours, interns qualify for the Public Land Corps Hiring Authority, which gives priority hiring when applying for jobs with the USFS (it takes two years of year-round USFS work to qualify at the same level). 

Intern Summer Snapshot

Our RMYC interns will be working throughout Colorado and Wyoming this season. Over 20 positions are currently open with everyone from BLM offices to USFS, from Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest in Colorado to the towns of Laramie, Douglas, and Saratoga, Wyoming. Positions being filled include internships with fire crews, land survey teams, trails and wilderness crews, recreation, archaeology, and more. RMYC is on track to once again field over 100 interns in 2024!


2024 Crew Highlights
We have an exciting season ahead, capped by some of the following field highlights for the 2024 summer:

All- women's Fire Mitigation/Chainsaw Crew:

RMYC will field an all-women chainsaw crew for the second season in a row, led by third-season veteran Kiana Fields. The women’s crew will work for 10 weeks performing wildfire mitigation work from the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest to the Sulfur Ranger District in NW Colorado. “I’m so excited to be back and running saws” says Fields. “RMYC has meant so much to me over the years and I’m stoked to able to lead the women’s chainsaw crew and share this experience.” Adds Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest fire management officer Chris Green: “It’s a pretty male-dominated profession, so whenever we can help get an opportunity to increase diversity it’s pretty special.” RMYC program manager Ashley Roscoe reports there’s been no shortage of applicants: “We’ve had way more applicants than we could fill,” she says.

Ladies Youth Crew:

This summer, RMYC will field a record of four full sessions of our Ladies Youth Crew, allowing women-identifying youth to work in conservation with their peers. The Ladies Youth Crews will participate in conservation and recreation projects across Northwest Colorado. Learning “Leave No Trace” principles, team building, and leadership and communications skills, the crews will also join daily Something Educational Every Day (SEED) educational sessions, teaching how their projects impact nature and human communities, how to identify personal and professional strengths, career opportunities and more. With preference given to Colorado teens, the women’s youth crew members range in ages from 14-18, working 32 hours per week during the paid programs. See more!



2023 Annual Report

Wow! What a great year, and hard hats off to our team. With over 235 project weeks in 2023, RMYC served over 850 youth and young adults through our four programs—Youth Corps, Conservation Corps, Natural Resource Internships, and Yampa Valley Science School. Together, RMYC crews improved 1,621 acres of public lands; improved, maintained, or constructed 705 miles of trails; removed or mitigated 15,797 trees; and more. In addition, our 302 AmeriCorps members earned $670,742 in education awards, and we celebrated our 30th anniversary with over 200 friends. Click the image to read all about these accomplishments and the road ahead in our 2023 Annual Report.


Save the Date! A Toast to Trails & Tales Fundraiser
Saturday, Oct 12 at the Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts Pavilion

Mark your calendars! Our annual fundraiser is set for Oct. 12 at the Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp (home to our Yampa Valley Science School program). Join RMYC for an evening of local farm-to-table cuisine prepared by local chefs, signature local drinks, and dancing to live music from Chamberlain Birch. Support our mission through a live auction, games, and a "Pulaski" raise, benefiting the young people we serve.
Interested in being a sponsor? Email Lauren at lvandenhurk@rockymountainyouthcorps.com to learn how to get involved.