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Show ZionYCC program completed t be in their own little groups. ..Now it's one big group," Chip said. Another goal is development of the supervisor-worker relationship. According to work leaders, tasks are performed willingly and with a spirit of camaraderie. Leaders claim the need for discipline has become more a matter of peer pressure than direct requests. YCC workers are just as complimentary of their leaders. Project leaders are Tom Van Zoeren, Camp Director, and his wife, Alice, Environmental En-vironmental Education Specialist. Both are from Ann Arbor, Michigan and have degrees in natural resources from the University of Michigan. They previously worked for VISTA in Charlottsville, Virginia. Safety Officer and work leader is Elaine Grass. Elaine has worked as a seasonal ranger in Grand Tetons National Park and is a member of the Yosemite ski patrol during the winter season. Bruce Hill, also a work leader, is a former tour guide at Zion and the Grand Canyon. He was raised on a farm and possesses extensive ex-tensive knowledge in the use of tools. Coordinator of the program at Zion is Hal Greenlee, KoIod Districi Ranger. Greenlee said, "I'm really proud of these kids. I think it says something that almost everyone who started the program has stuck with it. A lot of the participants never had previous work experience ex-perience and are now working under very strenous conditions." Other completed projects include removal of poison milkweed from Zion's npsert Bighorn enclosure and boundary marking along some of the Park's more confusing boundaries. The YCC's last major project was construction of a corral for the Park's two backcountry horses maintained at the Taylor Creek Ranger Station. Pine posts for the corral were cut in Dixie National Forest during the group's special overnight trip August 2. The students were divided into four groups for the trip, one each in charge of rules, cooking, entertainment and safety. After returning to Taylor Creek with the logs, post holes were dug and the posts debarked. The project was completed August 12, final day for this year's YCC program at Zion. Participants had a hard time thinking of anything negative about YCC. Julie said, "I don't like wearing hard hats, wearing long sleeve shirts, and getting up early in the morning. But I like being outside and being with people." Sheri Keele, 16, St. George, said, "It's fun to work together out in the wilderness, meet new people and learn new skills. I like it all. It's all really fun." Bob Warrick summed up most participants feelings, saying, "The only thing I don't like is YCC lasts only eight weeks and not all summer." fc&fe mm . For 20 local high school students this has been a unique summer as participants par-ticipants in the Youth Conservation Corps. The federally sponsored YCC has provided many with first work experience ever performing strenuous outdoor labor in back-country back-country areas of Zion National Park. The students are ages 15 through 18, 10 females and 10 males, from various communities com-munities between St. George and Springdale. Each day these youth are driven to Zion for work projects and environmental education. The program began June 20 and the last project was completed August 12. Each work project emphasizes em-phasizes preservation of the natural environment while providing needed maintenance main-tenance in Zion's back-country back-country and parts of the main canyon. YCC's first project was a litter pickup along the Kolob Terrace Road. The project involved over four days time. Mike Boggs, 16, from St. George, said, "I can't say I enjoyed the pickup, but it was worth it once it was done. It helped generate a reason not to litter." Chip Higgins, 17, Springdale, said, "I was amazed at so much litter. There were 100 pounds or more in a single short stretch of road. We left it in big piles beside the road so maybe people saw the effect of it before it was hauled away." Other completed projects include removal of old barbed wire fence and posts along the Kolob Terrace Road and near the Maloney Hill area, installation of grills in the Lava Point primitive campground, installation of waterbars to prevent trail washouts and general rennovation of the Lee Pass Trail, trench digging to install an electric cable for an air quality monitoring station in Zion Canyon, and directional sign installation on the Wildcat Canyon trail. What have YCC members ' learned through such k projects? Boggs said he has learned more about tools, how to use and care for them. Julie Spendlove, 16, Virgin, said she has learned how to lay bricks, build fences and stretch wire. More specifically, Bob Warrick, 17, Hurricane, said, "I've learned to use a mattock and a pulaski. A mattock is a grubbing tool to dig out rocks. A pulaski has a sharp edge and an ax blade for digging trenches. We used pulaskis for the trench behind the Visitor Center." Of course, there are the more intangible resilts, one of the goals of YCCis to improve peer relationships, and most participants agree that they have become closer since joining YCC. "At first everyone tended to ABOUT OVER. On a camp out in the Dixie National Forest, Judy Laub and Julie Spendlove cut rails for horse corralls. I - , - '.', "V ' " 4 I i Sr " : I , . :$fP !w mN, LOTS OF WORK. Julie Spendlove, Tanya Wood, Noland Gray and Ron Fletcher peel the bark from the rails using draw knives. |