Governor Rendell Signs Extension of Pennsylvania Conservation Corps

Successful Program Offers Work Experience, Job Training Opportunities for Youth

HARRISBURG, Pa., June 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Pennsylvania Conservation Corps will continue to provide hands-on job training that makes lasting improvements to communities statewide, thanks to a 10-year extension passed by the General Assembly and signed yesterday by Governor Edward G. Rendell.

House Bill 9, now Act 37, reauthorizes the PCC through June 30, 2020.

"For a quarter century, the Pennsylvania Conservation Corps has provided thousands of young people with the opportunities, leadership and training necessary to continue their education or enter the workforce," Labor & Industry Secretary Sandi Vito said. "The PCC's value to communities and residents, and the contributions made by the corps members and their crew leaders, cannot be overstated."

During 2010, approximately 120 crew members and crew leaders in the PCC will work on 43 projects in 35 counties across Pennsylvania.

The PCC is one of the nation's largest statewide conservation corps. In the past 26 years, the PCC has provided more than 15,000 young people with jobs, career and technical training and educational funding.

Since 1984, the PCC has worked in all 67 counties, completing nearly 1,400 projects in urban, suburban and rural areas. Accomplishments include the improvement of 107 miles of streams, 7,100 acres of wildlife habitat and 23,000 acres of forest lands; the construction or renovation of 700 picnic areas, 721 cabins and lodges and more than 10,100 miles of trails; the rehabilitation of 387 historical buildings; and the planting of more than one million seedlings and trees.

For more information, visit www.dli.state.pa.us/pcc.

Media contact: Sarah Cassin, 717-787-7530

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Labor & Industry