Celebrating 50 Years of Students Conserving America

spring 2007
the Green Way SCA’s conservation quarterly

SCA To Lead Mount Rainier Recovery Effort

Whatever you’ve seen or heard, the situation is likely much worse. Wilderness areas
throughout the Northwest were devastated by early winter rains and flooding. Mount Rainier
was hardest hit, but Olympic and North Cascades
National Parks, Mount Baker-Snoqualmie, Gifford Pinchot National
Forests, and many other federal and state sites suffered terribly as well.

Most news accounts have focused on the loss of roads and buildings, but a full accounting of
the trail, riparian and other backcountry damage is still months away due to heavy snow-
pack. At Rainier, Superintendent Dave Uberuaga has
already named SCA to lead a multi-year volunteer restoration project.

“SCA’s experience mobilizing recovery efforts after Hurricane Andrew and in assembling
and overseeing the Greater Yellowstone
Recovery Corps demonstrates the highest continued on page 4
caliber of volunteer conservation service SCA volunteers at Mount Rainier
before last autumn’s floods

Scientists and Interns:

a Symbiotic Relationship
By John Scoles, USDA Staff Writer

The scientists at the Invasive Plant

Research Laboratory (IPRL) in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida, accomplish their
mission with the help of SCA volunteers
who sign on to work for six months to
a year to gain exposure to science as it
is done in the real world. Most go on to
graduate school after their internship is
over. Some
SCA intern Robyn Chiarelli and
entomologist Cressida Silvers monitor insect develop-
ment at the IPRL in Fort Lauderdale
enter the working world. All leave with a
sense of accomplishment, gratification,
and a new view of the world in which
they live. None leave unchanged.
The IPRL complex includes a fully
equipped, 17,000-square-feet biological
control facility with 3,000-square-feet of
greenhouses and laboratories under
quarantine containment.

The staff of scientists in the lab studies

IN THIS ISSUE: continued on page 4

Here Comes the Sun Bookends SCA Spotlight

SCA gears up for Alumnus Tom Tidy- A conversation with
Student
another big summer. man tells his story. Marty Talbot. Conservation
Association
page 2 page 3 page 7 page 7 www.theSCA.org
page 6 page 8
the newsletter of the sca  www.thesca.org

LAST
OPPORTUNITY
FOR TAX-FREE
ROLLOVER OF IRA
ASSETS TO SCA
Act Before You Take
Your 2007 Required
Minimum Distribution
Last year, a number of
supporters of SCA took ad-
vantage of the new
opportunity to “roll over”
up to $100,000/year tax-free
from their IRAs to SCA.
The provision of the Pension
Protection Act allowing for
such rollovers to qualified
charities by individuals age
70 1/2 or older was for 2006
and 2007 only. So this is the
last year to take advantage of
this tax-saving opportunity.
Act before you take your
required minimum
distribution for the year,
since the amount you
transfer to SCA qualifies as
part or all of your required
minimum distribution.
Example: Janet, age 75, has
$100,000 in her IRA and is
required to take a minimum
distribution for 2007 of
$4,367. She makes a direct
transfer of this amount to
SCA, and no longer has to
personally take a taxable
distribution for the year. If
she wants to roll over $2,000
to SCA, she only has to take a
personal taxable distribution
of $2,367.
Your IRA rollover gift
will keep SCA rolling
for years to come.
For more information, please
contact Hugh Montgomery
toll-free at 1-888-722-9675,
ext. 151 or e-mail
hmontgomery@theSCA.org.
2 and Stamford, CT.
president’s message
“Who you gonna call?”
When Mount Rainier National Park was struck by last summer, JCI has just
devastating floods earlier this winter, Superintendent committed to continue
Dave Uberuaga was inundated with calls from con- this program and to ex-
cerned individuals, businesses and groups wanting pand into Baltimore, MD.
to help. In fact, the offers were so numerous that he When American Eagle
and his staff, who were focusing on the immediate Outfitters, a Pittsburgh-
needs in the park, could not respond to them all. He based clothing company, was looking to align with
quickly realized he needed to designate one organi- a national conservation organization to advance its
zation to take the lead in developing a plan for the goals of promoting environmental stewardship, they
volunteer restoration effort. He asked SCA to step in identified SCA as that organization. American Eagle
as that leadership organization. has just signed on as the Presenting Sponsor for
SCA’s 50th Anniversary Celebration.
Why did he call on SCA? Perhaps it is because for
50 years, SCA has shown that young people can be So, as SCA enters its second half century, we
called on to work with park professionals to address find that the power of young people to protect our
the most critical environmental issues they face. Per- nation’s treasured environment is as relevant today
haps it is because SCA has a proven track record of as it was 50 years ago. For our national parks,
leading such volunteer efforts in the past, as with the other land managers, organizations, businesses and
Greater Yellowstone Recovery Corps, a multi-year communities, when youth conservation leadership is
restoration effort following the fires that devastated required, the call goes out to SCA.
that park in the early 1990s. We are pleased that
Superintendent Uberuaga called on us, and we look
forward to assisting him in this restoration initiative.
It is not only the National Park Service that has re-
cently called upon SCA to meet specific needs. Last
year when the Milwaukee County Parks and Johnson
Controls, Inc. (JCI) wanted to engage diverse youth
in the preservation of urban parks, they contacted
SCA to run a pilot program. Based on the success
Summer in the City
With winter stretching on and snow continuing to fall across much of the country, it’s hard to imagine that
summer is just around the corner. Soon though, SCA will be refocusing its efforts and gearing up
for another summer on the trails, and an unprecedented new season in our nation’s urban areas.
In addition to SCA’s long-standing programs in Oakland, Seattle, Pittsburgh,
Houston, Dallas and Washington DC, SCA is launching several new
initiatives. Following the successful implementation of last
summer’s Milwaukee Conservation Leadership Corps, SCA is
teaming up again with Johnson Controls, Inc. to replicate
the program in Baltimore, Maryland. In Connecticut, the
city of Stamford has pledged their support for a similar
program there. These programs will engage local
youth in conservation projects aimed at addressing
the most pressing conservation issues facing our
urban neighborhoods and communities today.
SCA’s Fantasia Oden and Andy Thompson working in
Milwaukee’s urban parks in the
summer of 2006. Similar programs are
sprouting up this summer in Baltimore, MD
A View from the Field
On Migration: An Essay by Emily Hertz
Emily Hertz has worked as an SCA intern for the BLM Tucson Field Office since August 2004.

Needle and string. Virgin Mary beach towel.
Cans of tuna. Bus ticket stubs. Voter registra-
tion cards. Pesos. Baby bottle. Pornography
comics. Cloth rosary. 10-speed bike.
Red training bra. Fleece onesie.
I remove evidence of human migration and
trespasses on U.S. soil. This is my third year
as a conservation intern.
I came to Arizona because I love the land. The
jagged red rocks, cobalt blue skies, and 350
days of sun. I came to Arizona to learn about
the land, the rocks, the plants, the people, and
the relationships between them all in the So-
noran desert. I came to Arizona because I was
interested in the people crossing the border.
Why? Who? How? Where are they now? Did
they make it? Are they happier? I still ask
myself these questions.
Fathers. Sons. Daughters.
People.
People giving birth in the desert. People
followed home by smuggling cartel members.
People abandoned by their smugglers. People
threatened at gunpoint. People finding human
bones on a desert foot trail. People’s feet, with-
out soles—worn away from walking.
Since last January, I have been writing, re-
cording conversations, and taking photographs
of the Border Patrol. This essay is the first in a
series of five.
My journey is about seeing people in their
entirety. It is about juxtaposing the stereotypes
with the ordinary. It is about seeing ourselves
in each other.

I had my own concepts about the border situ-

Emily graduated from Cornell College in 1998 with a
ation. In line with the contemporary obses-
degree in Psychology. Five of her recent photos were
sion to vilify and glorify, I too cast the heroes
exhibited in a Tucson art gallery this past September.
and villains, unaware that I would end up
To view Emily’s photo essay in its entirety, please visit Remnants. Refuse of people who crossed the
working alongside them all. Border patrol
our blog at www.theSCA.org. border. January 2006, Nogales, AZ
agents. Ranchers. Environmental advocates.
Military personnel. Human rights activists.
Law enforcement agents. Hunters. Mothers.

Recovery. The border patrol’s search and rescue team,

BORSTAR, prepares a woman to be flown by helicopter to
a hospital for
further assistance. She developed complications due to
exposure, after walking for four days with her daughter
from Mexico.
February 2006, Arivaca, AZ

3
Mount Rainier Recovery
continued from page 1
efforts,” Uberuaga said.
As it develops strategies with Rainier, SCA
is also in discussion with other affected sites
to devise appropriate response plans. SCA
Vice President for Western Initiatives Jay
Satz reports that Northwest recovery efforts
will initially focus on trail and bridge recon-
struction, erosion control, revegetation and
invasive plant control. SCA will work with
several local trails groups and other non-
profit organizations on these efforts.
“In many ways, this is analogous to SCA’s
Yellowstone response after the 1988 fires,”
Satz says. “The land is absolutely raw and we
need to help it heal.”
To view a slide show, learn more, and support
SCA’s work, visit www.theSCA.org.
Flood damage in Mount Rainier’s
Ohanapecosh River.
Photo by Debbie Hannevig
Katrina Crews Heading for Gulf Coast
Far from Rainier, another corner of the nation is still reeling from a powerful storm that hit 18 months ago. But
SCA has just announced that it will send up to 40 volunteers and project leaders to the Gulf Coast this summer to
assist with ongoing Hurricane Katrina recovery efforts. SCA crews will help Mississippi residents repair damage to
natural areas as well as stricken neighborhoods. Stay tuned for more details as they become available.
4
Scientists and interns
continued from page 1
the nature of invasive plants and
biological control.
“The committed staff and scientists of the IPRL create a professional environment
that fosters personal, intellectual, and scientific development,” says Melissa Martin,
a graduate of Notre Dame University, former SCA intern, and now a Ph.D. candidate
at the University of Florida.
Over the course of their internships, SCA volunteers must design and run experiments,
gather data, write papers suitable for publication, and, at the end of their stay, pres-
ent their findings to the entire staff at the lab.
“The professional and scientific training I received at the IPRL has proved invaluable
in my graduate career,” says Martin.
Laurie Bauer concurs. “My SCA experience was vital in preparing me for graduate
school and solidified my desire to pursue a career in the federal government.” After
her SCA internship at the lab, Bauer completed a master’s degree in fisheries at the
University of Maryland and was recently awarded the prestigious Knauss fellowship
to work with the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration.
But SCA volunteers are not the only ones who benefit from these relationships.
“These young folks, fresh out of college, bring us many ideas about the latest thinking
and newest technologies,” notes Ted Center, research leader and entomologist at the
IPRL. “We have over 200 acres of land that needed to be surveyed, sampled, and
prepared for workshops. Without our SCAs, we would never have completed all that
had to be done in time. Besides, they help keep us young!”
The scientists and staff at the IPRL think of the interns as family, and many interns
stay in touch with the scientists and technicians at the lab long after they leave.
“Not only was this a great professional move for me, it remains one of the
fondest time periods in my life,” reflects Tracy Davern, former SCA and now a
Ph.D. candidate studying invasive species distribution at Colorado State Uni-
versity. “The people I met there fueled the spark that was already lit inside
me. For that I will be forever grateful.”
John Scoles is a writer at the USDA Invasive Plant Research Laboratory in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida where he has worked with more than a dozen SCA volunteers.
The Green Way is grateful for his contribution to this issue.
50th Anniversary
Draws Broad Support
The National Park Service, American Eagle Outfitters and our nation’s
leading conservationists are all lined up behind SCA’s 50th anniversary
celebration. As The Green Way goes to press, SCA is preparing to hold a
“Green Tie” reception at San Francisco’s Presidio where several
announcements are planned:

• The National Park Service will partner
with SCA to present EarthVision: Actions
for a Healthy Planet, a first-of-its-kind
conservation conference to be held in
April 2008 in Washington, DC. Earth-
Vision will convene college and high school
students with conservation professionals,
elected officials, scientists, writers and
others to devise new solutions to today’s
most critical conservation challenges. In
keeping with SCA’s core values, partici-
pants will also engage in a conservation
service day.
• American Eagle Outfitters, a leading
clothing retailer for young people with
more than 800 stores nationwide, has
agreed to be presenting sponsor of SCA’s
50th anniversary. SCA and American
Eagle will conduct a comprehensive online
and in-store promotional campaign in sup-
port of environmental stewardship, among Conservation professionals will share their knowl-
many other initiatives. edge and experience at SCA’s Earth Vision confer-
ence in April 2008.

• SCA’s 50th Anniversary Honorary

Committee will be co-chaired by Allison
Whipple Rockefeller, an SCA alumna
and former Board chairwoman, and
Ted Roosevelt IV, managing director of
Lehman Brothers. The committee also in-
cludes U.S. Senator Dianne Feinstein, who
will be honored at the Green Tie reception.
Also at the Green Tie event in San Francisco, SCA will honor Senator Feinstein, National Park
Service Pacific West Regional Director Jon Jarvis, Pacific Southwest Regional Forester Bernie
Weingardt of the U.S. Forest Service, and Mike Pool, State Director for the Bureau of Land
Management, for their ongoing contributions to conservation.
For more on SCA’s 50th anniversary, log on to www.theSCA.org

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Your gift of appreciated securities will be appreciated by genera-
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or e-mail hmontgomery@theSCA.org. 5
 alumni profile
SCA and National
Bookends Park Service
Tom Tidyman remembers learning about SCA as an undergraduate student at
the University of Florida. A recruiter from SCA visited his class and talked
about the thousands of young people who take to the field each year to make a
Celebrate 50 Year
difference in the world.
Partnership
They’ve been there since day one, since SCA fielded
its first crews in the summer of 1957. They offered
a partnership, and we gained a friend.

The National Park Service (NPS) is SCA’s most

longstanding partner, and each year it provides the
support required to field over half of SCA’s annual
volunteers in parks across the nation. In the last 50
years, this partnership has been the integral link be-
tween our strained natural resources and the young
people who are committing themselves to steward-
ship through conservation.
Tom Tidyman conducting tide pool inventory in California’s Channel Islands National Park.

“I was inspired,” says Tom. “I realized I wasn’t the only one who cared about As a new organization in 1957, SCA teamed up
the environment and wanted to get involved.” with NPS to send 53 young men to Grand Teton and
Olympic National Parks to repair worn trails, build
footbridges and blaze a path for a new generation of
Tom signed up and was soon selected to take part in SCA’s Unilever internship
leaders in the conservation world. As Elizabeth C.
program. This seven-month program is divided into two parts and is designed
Titus Putnam explored in her innovative college the-
to show young people firsthand how environmental policy affects public lands.
sis, the need for these volunteers was dire. Increased
Tom’s internship began with a three-month assignment in California’s Channel
visitation to the parks had stressed federal budgets
Islands National Park. During his time there, he worked closely with park ad-
and placed our parks at risk. They were in danger of
ministrators to research and develop new environmental policies and implement
being closed altogether.
a new plan for the Southern California Research Learning Center.

“It was really fascinating. I learned so much about how parks work at the local Since then, 30,000 SCA volunteers have worked in
and national level,” says Tom. more than 200 parks across the country completing
a diverse range of projects, and working alongside
the rangers and park superintendents who have made
Upon finishing his stint in California, he took his hands-on knowledge directly
their careers with the NPS. Significantly, more
to the Hill. Capitol Hill, that is. The second part of his internship was based in
and more of these Parks employees got
Washington, DC where he worked for 3rd District Wisconsin Congressman Ron
their start with SCA.
Kind.

“It was incredible,” says Tom. “I lived across the street from a Senator and
walked to work every day. I worked with two other interns, and we did just
about everything in that office. We wrote speeches for Congressman Kind,
responded to constituent mail, researched environmental issues and attended
committee hearings. Having come from Channel Islands, it was amazing to see
how much public policy affects the parks directly.”

Tom’s enthusiasm for his experience is infectious. He marvels at how much he

learned, and demonstrates a passion for fixing the disconnect between politi-
cians in the capital and park staff across the country. He says that his intern-
ship reinforced his drive to return to school, and to pursue a career in interna-
tional agriculture where he can bring politics and the environment together.
Marty Talbot
with husband Lee
atop Yosemite’s
6 Mount Dana.
 “SCA gave me the opportunity to get a foot
in the door with the Park Service,” says NPS
Superintendent Palma Wilson.
“SCA showed me that this was a career that I
wanted to pursue. I really credit SCA with my
career. Without it, I wouldn’t be where I am
today, doing what I am now.”
Palma began her career as an SCA intern
at Assateague Island National Seashore in
1977. The following summer she took
her first job with the NPS and later
continued as a site supervisor,
a ranger, and the Associate
to the Deputy Director of
the NPS. She is now the
superintendent of three
parks. Each season,
Palma meets a
new cadre of SCA
volunteers, eager to
SCA’s first crew at
Olympic National Park
in the summer of 1957.
It has been 51 years since Marty Talbot received a letter that changed her life, and in its wake the
lives of so many others. The Green Way spoke with Marty recently about how it all began.
Tell me about the letter. How did you respond?
It was from my professor, Dr. A. Scott War-
thin, who told me that another of his students,
Elizabeth Cushman, was visiting Olympic
National Park with her thesis proposing a
Student Conservation Corps. He suggested
that because of my enthusiasm for the out-
doors, I should join her. I just happened to be
visiting in the Pacific Northwest at that time
and Olympic was a short bus trip away. It was
just meant to be.
Where did your love for the outdoors
come from?
I was brought up hiking and riding in the Coast
Range of California with my parents who
instilled in me a love of and respect for nature
and the outdoors. We took pack trips in the
Sierras and some were with the Sierra Club.
Being in the mountains was heaven to me.
follow in her footsteps.
Every day since 1957, SCA has worked to
build the next generation of conservation
leaders. With the National Park Service by
SCA’s side, that mission is becoming a reality.
SCA Spotlight on Marty Talbot
So you joined Liz at Olympic National Park. What
happened then?
We started traveling and delivering Liz’s
thesis to national parks, and later to universi-
ties and wildlife conferences to promote the
program and enlist participants. We had the
support of so many people including our par-
ents, who shared and encouraged our vision.
Did you ever think that what you were doing
was revolutionary? Two women traveling the
country, chasing down a dream?
No. We just saw that our parks were in
trouble and thought, why couldn’t students
help out? We approached it from an educa-
tional perspective, to learn about the parks
and different branches of government, to get
the support we needed and get help to the
agencies and parks.
Fifty years and thriving! As SCA and the
National Park Service celebrate their 50-year
conservation partnership, your donation helps
SCA fulfill the Million Dollar Challenge.
Every dollar you give to support SCA volun-
teers will be matched by another three dollars
from the Park Service, under the terms of our
Cooperative Agreement – up to $1.8 million!
That’s a lot of conservation –
but there’s not a lot of time.
To meet the Million Dollar Challenge,
SCA must raise $600,000 in just the next
three months. Please give generously so
SCA volunteers may give back to the land
that enriches us all. Use the envelope
provided or visit www.theSCA.org today!
Having been there from the very beginning, how
has SCA changed over the last 50 years?
It has been a privilege to see how it has grown
and developed - from serving not just the
National Parks but the Forest Service, Bu-
reau of Land Management and so many other
organizations; from enlisting just high school
boys to high school girls and boys; from
wilderness areas to urban areas; from being
trained by government agency staff members
to now training them. I am so impressed by it,
and by the number of SCA volunteers that go
on to work in the conservation field for their
whole lives. I always get some overwhelm-
ing emotion that wells up inside me when I
visit a program and meet these enthusiastic,
committed young people and know that I had
a hand in getting them there.
Thank you, Marty. We are so grateful
New Leadership
Donors worth a thousand words
Special thanks to those who
recently increased their generous As SCA turns 50, we are
support of SCA’s annual fund. paging through the photo
President’s Council $5,000+ albums and collecting
Kathleen D. Gill the faces and places of
Trina M. Turk our past on our website.
Charles S. Vosmik
Share your SCA photos in
Elizabeth Titus Putnam our 50th Anniversary gal-
Founder’s Club $1,000+ lery at www.theSCA.org.
Deanne Adams
Mary E. Alexander
Julian M. Babad
Barnert Temple/Religious
School Tzedakah Fund
Elizabeth C. Cauley
Emory University
Andrew J. Fisher
Holly Gray
Henry J. Fox Fund
Nathan Johnson
Yvette C. Leung
Beatrice G. Manice
Kimberly B. Reene
Tom Rohloff
Diane Strauss
Carolyn Woodbury
Melba D. Wright

SCA is a nationwide conservation force

of college and high school volunteers
Celebrating 50 Years of Students Conserving America
who protect and restore America’s
parks, forests, and other public lands. SCA
SCA’s active, hands-on approach to The SCA Center for Conservation Service
conservation has helped to develop a 689 River Road, P.O. Box 550
new generation of conservation leaders, Charlestown, NH 03603-0550
inspire lifelong stewardship, and save
our planet.
603.543.1700
Chairman of the Board: Fred Prescott www.theSCA.org
President/CEO: Dale Penny
Editor: Elli Caldwell

E-mail: thegreenway@theSCA.org

The Student Conservation Association

• Charlestown, NH • Pittsburgh, PA
• Boise, ID • Seattle, WA
• Houston, TX • Washington, DC
• Oakland, CA

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