The Eagle County Youth Corps (ECYC) debuted this summer, giving local 16-18 year old high schoolers a real field experience in stewardship and recreation management, and a clear first step toward outdoor careers. They arrived as students, and they left as stewards. The first season of the ECYC proved what happens when local youth take the lead on public lands.
ECYC is a partnership with Walking Mountains and is supported by Eagle County Open Space and the U.S. Forest Service. Walking Mountains helped recruit in local schools and supported learning in the field while VVMTA secured funding, hired the youth, and planned and led the projects.
In our first season we ran two two week sessions with two different youth corps groups, one in late June and one in late July. In total, fourteen local participants ages 16-18 took part representing every public and private Eagle County high school except one. Crews worked four ten hour days Monday through Thursday and earned $18/hr. Each teen received a uniform, gloves, a hard hat, and the tools and training to work safely and effectively
In the field, VVMTA Trail Conservation Crew leaders set the pace alongside a coordinator from Walking Mountains, with support from staff at the United States Forest Service and Eagle County Open Space. Crew leaders and land managers taught trail skills, safety, and ecology, and shared their own career paths, showing that working in the woods and on trails can be a real job. The teams tackled projects across the valley, from reroutes at Brush Creek Valley Ranch and Open Space to restoration in Gypsum Creek, and heavy maintenance on the Colorado Trail out of Camp Hale.
Highlights from the field:
- Completed trail reroutes at Brush Creek Valley Ranch and Open Space
- Cleaned up and packed out an old hunter camp in Spraddle Creek in Vail
- Decommissioned illegal routes and restored campsites in the Gypsum Creek area
- Cleaned garbage, spent shell casings, and sanded and stained picnic tables at the Two Elk shooting range
- Removed human waste, installed fire rings, and restored illegal campsites along Homestake Creek
- Performed heavy trail maintenance on the Colorado Trail out of Camp Hale
The work was hard and the pride was real. One participant summed up a favorite moment as “Breaking concrete with a sledgehammer.” Another said “Getting to know all the people!” A third reflected on the full picture “Rewarding work and good talks with cool people in pretty places.” Perhaps the most telling feedback came from a teen who already uses these trails “It was cool being able to make a lasting impact on trails I already spend time on.”
This job was more than a summer paycheck for the crew. ECYC is an on-ramp to careers in conservation, land management, and outdoor recreation. These youth are our future environmental leaders and our future Trail Conservation Crew members. Many have already asked for a longer session next year. As one wrote “Given the opportunity I would do this program again. When working on the Colorado Trail it felt nice giving back.”
Programs like this only happen with strong partners. Thank you to Walking Mountains, Eagle County Open Space, and the United States Forest Service for your leadership and support in ECYC’s first year.
The ECYC will return in 2026 with recruitment opening early in the year. To learn more visit the program page here.If you believe in this work please consider a donation to VVMTA so we can keep running youth programs like ECYC. Your support puts tools, boots, and training in the hands of local teens and keeps this momentum growing.
