Originally published on nationalservice.gov

For decades, national service has been a cost-effective solution to critical challenges facing our communities and nation. Recognizing the value of national service in improving lives and strengthening communities, President Obama created the Task Force on Expanding National Service in July 2013 to expand national service to meet national needs through collaboration with other Federal agencies and the private sector.

In July 2014, USDA and CNCS announced a landmark new partnership between AmeriCorps and the USDA’s Forest Service that connects youth and veterans with service opportunities to restore the nation’s forests and grasslands. The $3.8 million in joint funding will provide resources for both AmeriCorps grantees and member organizations of the 21st Century Conservation Service Corps (21CSC), and will also provide for 300 new AmeriCorps members serving in U.S. forests and grasslands.

AmeriCorps is part of a long American tradition of conservation service that dates back to the Civilian Conservation Corps and builds on the large network of state and local conservation corps that have emerged over the past four decades.

Through the President’s Task Force on Expanding National Service, CNCS is working with USDA and other federal agencies and nonprofit partners to create a 21st Century Conservation Service Corps, a national collaborative effort to put America’s youth and returning veterans to work protecting, restoring and enhancing America’s great outdoors.

Through this new partnership, AmeriCorps members and other youth will restore the nation’s forests and grasslands, meeting critical environmental needs as they gain valuable skills and college support to jumpstart their careers.