A Look Back at 2008

CCC- Flirting With Disaster

Living up to its reputation as one of California’s premier emergency response forces, the California Conservation Corps devoted thousands of hours in 2008 to fires, floods, pest infestations and more.

The year was a milestone for CCC fire response. With dozens of devastating wildfires, the Corps called out a record number of fire crews -- more crews than it had in its entire 32-year history -- 74 crews, 801 corpsmembers. And the CCC provided continuous logistical support to CAL FIRE and the U.S. Forest Service for 141 days straight, from June to October.

Along with initial attack work and fire camp support, members of the CCC also staffed evacuation shelters in various locations.

The CCC’s extensive flood training paid off as Southern California crews responded to Yorba Linda in November and December. The site of the Freeway Fire was threatened by mudslides and flooding from major storms. Corpsmembers filled thousands of sandbags -- 20,000 in just one day -- also placing 10,000 square feet of protective plastic along hillsides and clearing culverts and flood channels.

Earlier in the year, CCC crews responded to Inyo County, hard-hit by flooding and mud. Corpsmembers worked long days tackling cleanup efforts in the town of Independence.
And 2008 also included efforts to combat pest infestations for the state Department of Food and Agriculture. Crews battled the Mexican fruit fly In Los Angeles County and the Light Brown Apple Moth in Santa Barbara County.

Whatever the need or the natural disaster, the CCC is a mobile workforce and can respond within hours, anywhere in the state.

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Community College Partnership Initiated

With the recent signing of a Master Interagency Agreement with the Chancellor’s Office of the California Community Colleges, the CCC is looking forward to a strong collaboration that can open new doors of opportunity for both corpsmembers and community college students.

Brad Duncan, the CCC’s chief of Program Development and Support, said two organizations (both “CCCs”) have agreed to develop joint demonstration projects and pre-Corps pathways for youth 16-20, share labor market information and employer needs, develop models for post-Corps tracking, collaborate on initiatives, and much more.

Brad said both organizations have stressed their commitment to meeting the emerging needs of the state’s workforce and providing education training and support of CCC corpsmembers and those from the local corps programs.

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New Trails Partnership Underway

Twenty-five CCC crew supervisors (C 1s) are in San Luis Obispo this week for five days of intensive trail-building training under the direction of California State Parks. It’s the first time State Parks has designed and delivered a course to the staff of a single agency.

The crew supervisors will receive both classroom instruction and hands-on experience. They’ll hone their skills on a portion of the Pecho Coast Trail in San Luis Obispo County, near the Point San Luis lighthouse.

The training is the first to take place under the new CCC-State Parks Trail Partnership, headed by Bruce Bonifas. The partnership will feature trail construction by crews throughout the state, including a 14.2 mile trail along the North Fork of the American River in El Dorado County.

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Green Building = Green Jobs

Basic changes in building design and construction could slash greenhouse gas emissions by 35 percent in North America, said a joint Canada-US-Mexico report Thursday.

The report, “Green Building in North America: Opportunities and Challenges,” was released by the Commission for Environmental Cooperation at an environmental trade fair in Canada. .

Jonathon Westeinde, a Canadian developer, chairs an advisory group for the commission, which has the mandate of environmental cooperation under the North American Free Trade Agreement.

The report recommended that engineers and architects abandon old, proven designs in favor of emerging building technologies, and also called for urban planning with increased population density and access to public transit.

It touted basic measures such as thicker insulation and more energy efficient windows, minimizing energy-intensive heating and air-conditioning and avoiding use of some synthetic building materials that cause indoor air pollution by releasing volatile compounds.

The report noted that North America’s buildings release more than 2,200 megatons of carbon dioxide each year, some 35 percent of the continent’s total.

But the industry has a long way to go. Less than four percent of new buildings meet stringent new environmental, health and energy-saving goals under the continent’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standard. Many of the ideas in the report, from urban design to boosting insulation, are not new. “What’s different with this report is there is science behind it,” said Westeinde.

Evidence for the possible energy savings is contained in technical background papers based on laboratory tests, and show that the targets in the report are achievable, he said.

The CEC is an international organization created by Canada, Mexico, and the United States under the North American Agreement on Environmental Cooperation (NAAEC). The CEC was established to address regional environmental concerns, help prevent potential trade and environmental conflicts, and promote the effective enforcement of environmental law. The Agreement complements the environmental provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Read the full report here: Green Building in North America: Opportunities and Challenges
More on Green Building: Green Building

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