Why choose CREC?

• CREC provides employment and career development opportunities for youth and young adults while completing work that benefits the environment and our communities.
• CREC is a feeder program for several federal agency programs as well as state, county, and public service programs.
• CREC staff provide extensive support to ensure that our partners can concentrate on the development and logistics of the project.
• CREC is an accredited program through The Corps Network (formerly the National Association of Service and Conservation Corps) and recipient of its National Service Project of the Year Award for both 2005 and 2006.

What CREC provides

• Crews trained to complete a wide variety of conservation work (trail construction and maintenance, fencing, riparian restoration, revegetation, fuels reduction, habitat restoration, etc.) including a 40-hour A-Sawyer equivalent training
• The recruitment and training of all corpsmembers
• 6-8 person crews include four to six Corpsmembers, one Assistant Crew Leader and one Crew Supervisor
• The crew’s personal protective equipment
• All crew members trained in Wilderness First Aid
• Supervisors trained as Wilderness First Responders
• Supervisors trained in GPS application
• A crew vehicle, camping equipment, standard trail tool set, chain saws, additional equipment necessary for the project, saw gas and oil*
• Payroll, insurance, workers’ compensation insurance, and health insurance
• Pre-site visits, staff visits, and administrative support
• 24-hour emergency response system

*Please note that CREC may not possess all of the tools and/or equipment necessary to complete a project. Please communicate all your equipment and material needs when developing a project with CREC.

How much will it cost?

CREC currently operates four conservation programs to meet your project needs, all of which consist of six to eight corpsmembers:

• General Conservation Crew: $5,500/week
• Operates all over Arizona on front and backcountry projects and completes conservation needs such as trail construction and maintenance, fence installation and repair, riparian restoration, revegetation, and invasive species eradication, etc.
• Fire Fuels Reduction/Forest Restoration Crew: $6,000/week
  • A fully trained saw crew to address fuels reduction and forest restoration needs.
• Wildfire Crew: $5,500/week
• Comprised of advanced members who work directly with the Highlands Fire Department in Flagstaff, AZ. This crew travels throughout Northern Arizona completing fuels reduction needs on public lands.
• Youth Conservation Corps: $4,000/week
• The youth program operates out of Flagstaff, Williams, Sedona, and Fredonia and completes general conservation work on public lands.

What have you accomplished?

In 2006, CREC crews:

• Maintained and rehabilitated 70.3 miles of trail
• Constructed 14.2 miles of new trail
• Built 1,186 linear feet of retaining wall
• Built 1,423 trail structures (i.e. drainage, erosion control,
  switchbacks, etc.)
• Decommissioned 3.8 miles of roadways and unsanctioned
  social trails
• Planted 5,595 trees over 111 acres
• Revegetated over 103 acres of public lands destroyed by
  wildfire
• Improved and rehabilitated 3,742 acres of wildlife habitat
• Provided bank stabilization, erosion control and revegetation
  along 14 miles of the Colorado River corridor
• Eradicated invasive plant species across 697 acres in a riparian

area

• Treated 1,199 acres for wildfire fuels reduction and forest
  restoration

Who does CREC currently partner with?

For a list of CREC's partner agencies, visit our links page. Most of our regular and semi-regular partners are listed there. For more on the types of projects we've implemented for them and/or folks to contact at the agencies, see the information below.

Who should I contact?

If your agency is interested in hiring a general conservation, fuels reduction, or wildfire crew, Allison Laramee, CREC's Projects & Partnerships Coordinator, always loves to hear from new partners. You can reach her by phone at 928.679.8163 or by email.

If you are in or near the communities of Flagstaff, Williams, Sedona, or Fredonia and are interested in hiring a summer youth crew consisting of local, high-school aged members, give Matt Mrazek, Youth Programs Coordinator, a call at 928.679.8167 or send him an email.