Et cetera : NCCC Oak 4 serves Plymouth County Conservation with prescribed burns

Oak 4 celebrates as a team after a successful burn in Plymouth County.

By Aaron Rosado

AmeriCorps NCCC (National Civilian Community Corps) team, Oak 4, is serving with Plymouth County Conservation Board and The Nature Conservancy doing prescribed burns as well as trail maintenance when the weather does not permit the team to burn.

“I am excited for another opportunity to burn and am hoping this experience will give me a better opportunity to pursue a fire career,” says NCCC team leader, Bailey Kovall from Duluth, Minnesota. Bailey previously served as a type two wild land fire fighter in class 20 at the Atlantic Region campus.

In addition to prescribed burns, the NCCC team is helping out both The Nature Conservancy and Plymouth County Conservation Board with removing a large amount of old fencing, cutting down a large amount of invasive cedar trees and creating slash piles. The team is also painting the Nature Conservancy’s main office, and helping touch up grassy areas both at the Nature Conservancy’s main work shop and fencing line around one of the preserves.

Plymouth County Conservation manages over 2,200 acres of recreational and natural lands (15 individual areas) including native and restored prairies, upland forests and river bottom woodlands. Natural areas for picnicking, camping, fishing, hunting, winter sports, bird watching, hiking and equestrian trails are provided in parks throughout the county.

The Nature Conservancy’s mission is to conserve the lands and waters on which all life depends on. It was founded in 1951 and is a worldwide organization and that has been working to protect the land for over 50 years. In Iowa, The Nature Conservancy currently protects 3,086.33 acres of land.