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Growing up in rural northwest Wisconsin, Eric Antonson was no stranger to the outdoors. He hunted whitetails, ruffed grouse and rabbits, and fished for smallmouth bass, walleyes and panfish.
He still does.
The outdoors, you could say, courses through his veins in a continuous loop. “I’ve always had a connection to the outdoors,” said Antonson. “If you grew up where I grew up, it’s almost impossible not to.”
Little did Antonson know that his primary avocation would dovetail seamlessly with his current occupation: the youth program coordinator for the Minnesota Conservation Corps (MCC).
Call it a serendipitous journey, one that began in 2001, when he was attending the University of Minnesota at Duluth.
His major: teaching biology and ecology, the life sciences.
“I remember going to this outdoor summer job fair when I was at school, and that’s where I found out about the Minnesota Conservation Corps,” said the 27-year-old hunter, angler and conservationist. “It incorporated my love of the outdoors with my desire to work with young people. It’s really worked out well.”
The Minnesota Conservation Corps combines hands-on environmental stewardship and service-learning opportunities to youth and young adults. Corps participants complete a wide variety of natural-resource management projects throughout Minnesota, my beloved home state.
Put another way, MCC teaches young folks -- be they from the urban core, the hinterlands or anywhere in between -- about conservation through hard work in the great outdoors. In doing so, Corps members develop all-important life skills and a greater appreciation for Mother Nature -- a winning combination.
The MCC (several other states have similar summer youth and young-adult conservation-related programs, particularly on both U.S. coasts) was created in 1981 by the Minnesota Legislature and is patterned after the federal 1930s-era Civilian Conservation Corps.
Today, the MCC is a private nonprofit organization and is funded by an array of sources, including federal grants, state monies, fee-for-service contracts, individual donors and more. Still, money is always tight, Antonson said.
The MCC administers two programs: the Young Adult Program and the Summer Youth Program. According to Antonson, the Summer Youth Program -- his baby -- is for youths ages 15 to 18. Each summer, roughly 90 kids are accepted into the popular eight-week program. They’re based at the picturesque St. Croix State Park, and are led by trained MCC staff members. From the base camp, work crews are dispatched to primarily state and federal lands to complete valuable conservation projects. They camp on site until the projects are finished. Participants earn $180 per week and room and board is free.
“Participants can expect to work hard on projects such as trail construction, erosion control, bridge and boardwalk building and invasive species plant removal,” Antonson said, noting that the work is very labor-intensive. “We camp in tents, so there are few modern amenities. Sometimes we’re out there for two weeks at a time.”
For one hour on all work days, corps members take a break and learn about the natural world from program staffers, many of whom are studying natural resources in college. Antonson said Aldo Leopold’s “A Sand County Almanac,” a must-read conservation classic, is used as a training aid, as are other books.
“We talk about everything from how wetlands function, to forest ecology, to the role of hunters in modern-day wildlife management,” said Antonson. “On weekends, we take canoe trips, go on hikes and sometimes fish. It’s very rewarding.”
This type of brains-and-brawn emersion training has paid big dividends, nurturing the natural curiosity of participants. “We get very high marks in our surveys when the program is over,” he said. “Most come away with a greater appreciation for the outdoors, and that’s one of our goals. For some, it’s the beginning of a career in natural resources.”
In essence, the MCC is developing the next generation of conservationists, in an environment designed to develop leadership skills, work ethic and outdoors awareness and acumen. “This program has the capacity to impact kids in a very meaningful way,” said Antonson, who served as an MCC staffer before assuming his current position.
Antonson said the program is very popular. Most years, he said, there are as many as 250 applicants for 90 slots. “We have one of the largest programs in the Midwest,” he said. “I’m constantly amazed by the demand.”
Kudos to MCC staff members and all the important work they do. I can’t think of a better way to spend a summer -- immersed in, and learning about, the natural world.
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