WCC members in Clallam County participating in a salmon spawner survey for the Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe. Photo by Kiahlee Brown.
In July, our Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) opened recruitment to fill more than 250 member positions across the state that will start on Oct.1.
WCC is a career-development program within Ecology, providing hands-on experience, mentorship, and professional networking opportunities to young adults ages 18-25 and military veterans of any age.
Our members serve their communities by completing environmental projects for our network of more than 100 partners. Our five-member field crews and individual placement members take on a variety of critical activities including:
- Removing harmful invasive plant species.
- Restoring habitat along streams and other waters.
- Improving outdoor recreation such as campsites and trails.
- Contributing to scientific monitoring and research, including salmon restoration and protection.
- Leading environmental education events for youth.
- Responding to local disasters such as wildfires, floods, landslides, oil spills and hazardous material releases, and severe weather.
A WCC service year starts Oct. 1 and ends the following September. During that time, our members typically plant 400,000 native trees and shrubs, improve 3,000 acres of habitat, and build and maintain more than 400 miles of trails.
During the current 2024-25 service year, field crew members supported critical restoration and recreation projects, including treating invasive knotweed in the upper Skagit River basin, constructing a sustainable, erosion-resistant trail to Ruby Beach in Olympic National Park, and removing storm debris after an unprecedented “bomb cyclone” hit the King County area in November 2024.
WCC members measure the dimensions of an RFID-tagged rock near the dynamic revetment at North Cove Beach in Pacific County. Photo by Sam Miller-Indresano.
Members in our Individual Placement program supported scientific monitoring by tracking cobble rocks along a dynamic revetment project at North Cove beach in Pacific County, supported a project to establish a new forest in Snohomish County, and led watershed science programs for elementary school students in Port Angeles.
Besides these projects, members participated in two weeks of professionally taught training. Our catalog includes more than a dozen career-development courses such as wildland firefighting, wilderness first aid, hazardous waste operations and emergency response, wetland delineation, ethnobotany, and swift water rescue.
WCC and AmeriCorps
In 1994, WCC joined forces with the federal AmeriCorps program. This long-standing partnership enabled WCC to grow our program in Washington, diversify our projects, and expand member benefits through the AmeriCorps education award, student loan assistance, and more.
However, sweeping federal cuts to the national AmeriCorps program have delayed the grant awards we get from the program. This may adversely affect our partnership with AmeriCorps, including our ability to offer AmeriCorps-specific benefits during our upcoming 2025-26 service year. Despite this uncertainty, our state WCC budget has been built to offer stability for WCC programming in the next biennium with or without AmeriCorps funds.
Join WCC
A WCC member installs a wooden fence at the North Fork Quinault trailhead in Olympic National Park. Photo by Mari Johnson.
Our WCC member positions are open to young adults, ages 18-25, military veterans and people with mental or sensory disabilities. All members receive a living allowance twice a month, health insurance, mental health services, and professional training.
To apply:
- Review our eligibility requirements.
- View our web map to locate openings and read position descriptions.
- Submit an online application. Note that Individual Placement positions may require a resume and cover letter in addition to the online application.
Our 11-month positions start service Oct. 1, 2025, and run through Sept. 10, 2026. Crew supervisors schedule interviews for our field crews on a rolling basis, so we recommend applying soon!
For questions about recruitment, contact WCCactivities@ecy.wa.gov.
Partner with WCC
Does your public agency or nonprofit organization have an environmental project that could benefit from WCC services? WCC works with more than 100 partners every year, including cities, counties, Tribes, and nonprofit organizations who provide restoration- or recreation-based projects for our crews and Individual Placement members. Applications to partner with WCC during the 2026-27 service year will open this winter.
Learn more about partnering with WCC and sign up for our partner email list to be notified when our partner application opens.