Northwest Youth Corps - Wesley Lapointe Photo

Northwest Youth Corps

The highway’s hum was punctuated by gobbling turkeys as Jo-Jo Morales and the Northwest Youth Corps’ pilot Wildfire Workforce arrived at a Eugene middle school for their first work day of their 10-week season. This was the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI): the area where fire scientists like Mike Medler, of Western Washington University, say fuel-reduction and logging efforts should be focused to best prevent fire from entering communities. “This is where thinning will make a real difference,” said Medler, who identified 165,000 acres of WUI in need of treatment in Oregon, as opposed to the 5 million backcountry acres identified by Governor Brown as in need of logging. Morales spent the next 10 weeks on the crew, removing overgrown wildfire fuels from properties across his home town of Eugene, Oregon.

March 23, 2021- On their first day of doing fuel-reduction work as part of the Northwest Youth Corps’ pilot program, the Wildfire Workforce Corps, group members (from left to right) Joel Conaway, Jo-Jo- Morales, and Josh Wright stretch in a circle in front of the Fox Hollow Instructional Center. The daily ritual starts their work days in comradery, with mid-stretch conversations ranging from the day’s safety concerns, to favorite sandwiches and a world without social media. March 23, 2021- On their first day of doing fuel-reduction work as part of the Northwest Youth Corps’ pilot program, the Wildfire Workforce Corps, group members (from left to right) Joel Conaway, Jo-Jo- Morales, and Josh Wright stretch in a circle in front of the Fox Hollow Instructional Center. The daily ritual starts their work days in comradery, with mid-stretch conversations ranging from the day’s safety concerns, to favorite sandwiches and a world without social media.

March 23, 2021- Crew leader Aaron Blacklock helps Jo-Jo Morales calibrate his chainsaw behind the Fox Hollow Instructional Center, in Eugene. After a week of training on equipment safety and procedures, Morales is excited to begin their first day by “bucking” the thick fire fuels in their work site. March 23, 2021- Crew leader Aaron Blacklock helps Jo-Jo Morales calibrate his chainsaw behind the Fox Hollow Instructional Center, in Eugene. After a week of training on equipment safety and procedures, Morales is excited to begin their first day by “bucking” the thick fire fuels in their work site.

April 27, 2021- Jo-Jo Morales deposits ladder fuels that the Wildfire Workforce Corps have cleared from this city property above a gated community in Eugene’s South Hills. Most of the community members who reached out to the Wildfire Workforce Corps for fuel-reductions are from higher income areas. These services aren’t normally cheap or easy, which points to larger inequalities in who can afford to protect themselves from fire. April 27, 2021- Jo-Jo Morales deposits ladder fuels that the Wildfire Workforce Corps have cleared from this city property above a gated community in Eugene’s South Hills. Most of the community members who reached out to the Wildfire Workforce Corps for fuel-reductions are from higher income areas. These services aren’t normally cheap or easy, which points to larger inequalities in who can afford to protect themselves from fire.

April 27, 2021- Josh Wright inspects today’s overgrown hillside in the Hendricks Hill neighborhood of Eugene, as Project Manager Ian Appow shows the group their worksite. April 27, 2021- Josh Wright inspects today’s overgrown hillside in the Hendricks Hill neighborhood of Eugene, as Project Manager Ian Appow shows the group their worksite.

April 27, 2021- The Wildfire Workforce Corps begins to gather brush and dead limbs from a hillside atop a gated community in Eugene’s South hills. All of the brush and hanging branches will be “ladder fuels” for fire to climb into the canopy if ignition occurs nearby.

April 26, 2021- Josh Wright cuts a low hanging limb as Jo-Jo Morales prepares to grab it on a slope beneath a winding forested community in Eugene’s South hills. These low limbs, if ignited, are what will carry the flames into the forest’s canopy. The resulting crown fire will put nearby homes in extreme danger if the wind picks up.

March 25, 2021- The crew takes breaks at the same times every day, discarding their gear at the site for a few brief moments of respite from the loud and tiring work.

March 23, 2021- Crew member Josh Wright, from Santa Rosa, rests as the Wildfire Workforce Corps breaks for lunch at their worksite behind the Fox Hollow Instructional Center in Eugene.

April 26, 2021- Aaron Blacklock (left) and Joel Conaway prepare the evening’s dinner of chicken alfredo at the Black Canyon campground. Each night, a different crew member cooks, and they all do the dishes together after dinner.

April 26, 2021- Josh Wright does pull-ups on a taught length of paracord at their campsite while dinner is being prepared. The crew has the entire Black Canyon Campground- just North of Oakridge- to themselves because of Covid-closures.

April 26, 2021- The crew carries dripping dish bins back to the site after a dinner of chicken alfredo at the Black Canyon campground. Each night, a different crew member cooks, and they all do the dishes together after each meal.

April 26, 2021- Shortly after sunset, crew members retreat to their individual sites to rest before about 5 am, when their work day begins again.