CCC AT A GLANCE

CREATED IN 1976
BY GOVERNOR JERRY BROWN

ABOUT THE CCC

The California Conservation Corps (CCC) is the oldest and largest conservation corps in the nation. Created in 1976 by Governor Jerry Brown, it was soon made a permanent state department under the umbrella of the California Natural Resources Agency.

The CCC’s mission is to protect and enhance California’s natural resources and communities while empowering and developing young adults through hard work and education.

The work of the CCC falls primarily under three areas:

• Targeted Conservation Programs – from protecting California’s environment to making public buildings more energy efficient, the programs include:
Backcountry Trails Program | Energy Corps | Foresty Health |

International Work Exchange Programs | Veterans Corps Fishery Program | Watershed Stewards Program

• Emergency Response – legislatively mandated to respond to natural and man-made disasters, the CCC assists in a variety of emergencies:
earthquakes | fires | floods | hazardous materials/oil spills | other emergency response

•	Natural Resource Conservation Work – since its inception, the CCC has completed nearly 75 million hours of natural resource work throughout the state, including:
invasive species removal | public service conservation work | riparian and watershed restoration | state responsibility area fire fuel reduction | statewide trails program | tree mortality

THE CORPSMEMBERS

The CCC is dedicated to transforming the lives of California’s young adults, ages 18 to 25, and military veterans through age 29, through hard work, education and training; enabling them to earn meaningful skills and hands-on experience for launching a career and becoming assets to our communities.

During their year of paid service to the State of California, Corpsmembers receive “basic” training called COMET (Corpsmember Orientation, Motivation Education and Training) which includes first aid, proper use of hand tools, water safety, roadside safety,

and emergency response training, as well as effective communication techniques, sexual harassment and violence prevention, life skills, team-building, educational assessments, and more.

Corpsmembers also benefit from the CCC’s specialized training and certification programs ranging from firefighting techniques to chainsaw operation to food preparation to trail building.

Young men and women come from across California and represent the state’s rich ethnic diversity. To date, more than 120,000 Corpsmembers have participated in the CCC, taking with them the skills, education and experience to become productive citizens of California.

THE WORK OF THE CCC

• Fire Response & Initial Camp Support – Initial attack and mop-up, base camp organization, sanitation and supply distribution

• Fire Prevention – brush removal, thinning, prescribed burns, fire line construction

• Emergency Response – hazardous materials/oil spills, weather disasters, earthquakes, snow removal, and more

• Public Service Conservation Work: landscaping public spaces/public works – park development, maintenance and restoration, including shade structure construction and ADA access to recreational facilities; median construction

• Trail Building & Maintenance – hiking, equestrian, interpretive, ADA access

• Energy Efficiency Surveys & Retrofitting – energy audits, light fixture replacement

• Forest & Timber Management – tree, brush and native vegetation planting, removal of non-native species, seed cone collection and propagation

• Tree Mortality/Tree Felling – removal of dead and dying trees, chipping and mulching

• Riparian Habitat Enhancement & Watershed Stewardship and Restoration

THE VALUE

The CCC provides exceptionally strong value to California’s governmental agencies, public utilities, and non-profit organizations as well as counties and cities statewide by providing supervised, trained and equipped teams of Corpsmembers to work on a
wide range of environmentally focused projects that might not otherwise be financially feasible.

Corpsmembers also volunteer a tremendous amount of time in their local communities. Volunteerism is part of our business model that encourages Corpsmembers to complete 48 hours of volunteer work to successfully finish their first year in the CCC.

1719 24th Street, Sacramento, CA 95816 |	800-952-5627 |	ccc.ca.gov

CCC FACTS

WE CONSERVE AND ENHANCE CALIFORNIA’S NATURAL RESOURCES

THE CALIFORNIA CONSERVATION CORPS

•	Established in 1976, by Governor Jerry Brown

•	Became permanent state department in 1983 within the California Natural Resources Agency
•	Oldest and largest conservation corps in the country

THE CORPSMEMBERS

•	120,000+ young men and women have participated in the CCC •	3,000 join the Corps each year (approximately)
•	75% men, 25% women

•	1,529 Corpsmembers capacity

•	18 to 25 years old, and military veterans up to 29 •	9 months is average length of stay

THE WORK

•	76+ million hours of natural resource work throughout the state since 1976 •	250 local, state and federal agencies each year as project sponsors
•	900+ projects annually, generating more than $45 million for the CCC

•	$134 million annual budget - 58% from general fund, 42% from project sponsors

Environmental/Conservation

•	4+ decades of energy conservation work

•	25+ million trees planted throughout the state

•	1.6 million hours of fish habitat improvement work

•     12,000+ square miles of backcountry trails built or maintained in California national parks and forests, with many more miles for trails in city, regional and state parks
•	11 million hours of work improving rural and urban parks and recreation areas

•	Reduced fuel for fires on more than 4,100 acres and removed more than 61,000 dead or dying trees in 2019

Emergency Response

•	12+ million hours of service to date on nearly every major California natural disaster (floods, fires, earthquakes, snow removal, and more)
•	631,284 hours worked by Corpsmembers and staff at 170 fire incidents in California in 2019 alone
•	More than 45 Corpsmembers worked 11,900+ hours responding to national emergencies, including recovery operations for Hurricane Michael in Florida and extreme flooding in Iowa in 2019

THE BENEFITS TO CORPSMEMBERS

•	3,000+ Corpsmembers worked to complete their high school diplomas in the last five years
•	Corpsmembers learn interview skills, resume building, and how to apply to college programs, internships, and how to use scholarships
•	$8,000 available per year through AmeriCorps Segal Education Award and CCC Brad Duncan Scholarship upon completion of service
•	Certification programs and specialized training, such as firefighting, food handling, tree felling, light retrofitting, among others
•	Core curriculum educates Corpsmembers about critical thinking, personal presentation, financial literacy, and work readiness

	OUR LOCATIONS
4 Energy Centers

•	Fresno
•	Norwalk
•	Sacramento
•	Vista (North San Diego)

9 Residential Centers

•	Butte Fire Center
•	Camarillo (Ventura County) •	Delta (Stockton)
•	Fortuna (Humboldt County) •	Greenwood
(El Dorado County)*
•	Los Padres (San Luis Obispo) •	Los Piños (Lake Elsinore)
•	Placer (Placer County)** •	Tahoe
•	Ukiah
*Temporarily housing Placer Center Corpsmembers
**Under renovation, Corpsmembers moved to Greenwood Center

11 Non-residential Centers

•	Chico •	Fresno
•	Inland Empire (San Bernardino)
•	Los Angeles
•	Monterey Bay •	Pomona
•	Redding – Shasta Cascade •	San Diego
•	Santa Maria
•	Solano (Fairfield) •	Yreka – Siskiyou

1719 24th Street, Sacramento, CA 95816 |	800-952-5627 |	ccc.ca.gov

•	Specialized staff prepare Corpsmembers for life after the CCC, by connecting with them employers, educational opportunities, and a plan for the future

Appointed in 2015, Director Bruce Saito guides the California Conservation Corps

Corpsmembers build and maintain trails in remote wilderness areas as part of the Backcountry Trails Program

CCC Energy Corps reduces California’s Greenhouse Gas emission with renewable and energy-efficient alternatives

Corpmembers earn scholarships
by volunteering up to 48 hours annually

CCC wildland firefighters respond to fight fires and provide support at fire base camps

The CCC Forestry Corps reduces overgrown vegetation and dying trees, which can fuel large wildfires.

Corpsmembers improve public access to state parks and beaches with trail maintenance projects

Corpsmembers can earn their high school diploma through courses taught onsite at CCC centers