GulfCorps: Gulf Coast Restoration Work Gives Young People Jobs, Pathway to Career and Life Success

After graduating high school in 2017, Mobile, Alabama, native Eric Lucas could not see a way forward. College was beyond his family's means, and he couldn't reliably commute to a job without a car. Then, his father heard an advertisement on the radio for a coastal conservation corps pilot program located only 10 minutes from his house. Lucas had never thought about conservation but decided to give it a shot.

Over three seasons as a GulfCorps crew member and assistant crew leader, he restored wetland and dune habitats and mapped oyster reefs. Program leaders taught him about finance, goal setting, and overcoming personal challenges. Today, he has a full-time job as a local parks employee, and he and his wife recently bought a house. "I was honestly lost before GulfCorps," says Lucas. "Having the door open and the program being so welcoming to people from different backgrounds pushed me to work hard. They gave me the confidence to go further than I ever thought."

This fall, NOAA's Office of Habitat Conservation awarded The Nature Conservancy $12 million through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act to fund the GulfCorps program for the next 3 years. Since 2017, GulfCorps has engaged more than 500 young people in hundreds of coastal restoration and conservation projects across the five Gulf Coast states. Over the last 7 years, the RESTORE Council allocated $20.7 million from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill settlement to fund GulfCorps.

With the new funding, the program aims to:

• Complete 100 individual nature-based habitat restoration and conservation projects
• Restore, enhance, and monitor 5,000 acres of coastal and upland habitat
• Train more than 150 GulfCorps crew members in restoration and professional skills
• Pay every GulfCorps member at least $15 an hour
• Place 84 percent of GulfCorps members in jobs after the completion of the program
• Develop 20 projects in direct collaboration with underserved communities facing threats from climate change and flooding

Four partner organizations will implement the program:

• Franklin's Promise Coalition in Apalachicola, Panama City, and Pensacola, Florida
• Student Conservation Association in Mobile, Alabama, and Corpus Christi, Texas
• Climb CDC in Gulfport, Mississippi
• American YouthWorks through the Louisiana Conservation Corps in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and the Texas Conservation Corps in Houston, Texas

Additional program level partners include The Corps Network and The Ember Alliance .

The Impact of GulfCorps

The Nature Conservancy and NOAA created GulfCorps in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill . The 2010 disaster damaged the already storm-battered coastal ecosystems of the Gulf and severely impacted employment and the overall economy of coastal communities.

Corps members have since restored and enhanced almost 30,000 acres of shoreline, marsh, wetland, and forest habitat. Their work improves habitat for marine and estuarine species and increases the resilience of communities threatened by storms and flooding. Their tasks range from building oyster reefs or rejuvenating coastal forests through prescribed burns. Corps members do gritty, hands-on work other organizations can't or won't do due to the cost and difficulty of the work.

"The impact that we've had on the ground has been huge," says Jeff DeQuattro, the GulfCorps program director for The Nature Conservancy. "We've far surpassed our original goals for the program."

The most significant achievement of GulfCorps may be its transformational impact on its crew members' lives. Seventy-five percent of crew members come from local communities. Many members struggled to find work and stability before joining GulfCorps. Through skills training, professional development, and mentoring, most crew members find jobs in environmental fields after their service.

"I've been amazed at how successful the program's been at reaching those in most need of the opportunity," says Eric Vichich, who manages the GulfCorps program for NOAA. "It's mind-blowing when I see crew members I met 4 years ago who were in rough spots and are now leading programs for GulfCorps' partners. They just have their lives together."

Gaining Skills for Jobs and Life

All crew members receive training in chainsaw operations, wildland firefighting, and disaster response. Depending on the project, members gain additional training in oyster restoration, construction, plant identification, CPR/First Aid, and other skills.

"Crew members come out of the program with a broader mix of experience types than almost anybody I've ever met in the environmental field," says DeQuattro. "Having that knowledge and experience base gives them an edge in getting jobs and moving into their career."

After the first full season, project partners saw the need to add additional support services and workforce training to help members find jobs and live independently. Many members struggle to navigate the job application process. Some lack high school degrees and driver's licenses.

"Without GulfCorps, I don't know where I would be today, to be honest," says Connor Robison, who served five seasons with CLIMB CDC, the nonprofit that manages the Mississippi GulfCorps program. "People in the program helped me to get glasses, my driver's license, and my high school diploma. They also helped me when I was going through difficult times. In 2020, my mom passed away, and then in 2022, I had my daughter. GulfCorps gave me time off to deal with that. I've gotten raises, and they've helped me manage my budget and everything."

"Our dedicated partners and Corps staff know what it takes to bridge gaps for members from their communities," says Corps Network Program Manager Austin Bowley. An alumnus of the Florida-based GulfCorp's program run by Franklin's Promise Coalition, Bowley helps partners facilitate workforce development training for GulfCorps members. "A big part of our workforce development component is setting goals and teaching people to create actionable steps to help them succeed. We also offer training in everything from teamwork and leadership to financial literacy and resume writing."

"I've been able to use goal setting to help me become a pharmacy technician at Walgreens to supplement my income," says Alexis Powell, a former member of the Conservation Corps of the Forgotten and Emerald Coasts. She returned to Franklin's Promise Coalition as the communications and outreach coordinator for a new urban and community forestry crew in her hometown of Panama City. "Being a pharmacy technician is just plan B. My plan A is to help out the community the best way I can. If that means working for 40 years with the conservation corps, then that's what I'll do."

Last year, 89 percent of Corps members who completed their service terms gained employment as forestry and field technicians, park rangers, naturalists, and other positions. "Seeing the list of jobs people get at the end of the season is hugely rewarding," says DeQuattro. "I love seeing people in professional positions down the road, thanking me and explaining how the program opened their eyes to what they wanted to do."

Some take leadership roles with GulfCorps and partner organizations. "Having people run the program who came from the program contributes to its sustainability," says Vichich. "They provide leadership and ownership on a level we as program managers from the funding agencies and high-level partners can't provide by ourselves."

What's Ahead

The first GulfCorps crews funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act will start in September 2025. With this funding, the program will pay GulfCorps members at least $15 an hour or more, depending on local minimum wages. "We're hoping this will help us recruit more people from underserved communities," says DeQuattro. "In the past, a lot of people haven't taken our jobs because they could earn more at fast food restaurants or other businesses."

The new funding will also allow GulfCorps to conduct nature-based restoration in partnership with members of underserved communities. "We will work directly with municipalities, counties, and neighborhood associations and help them to identify, plan, and implement projects that address local climate change risks," says DeQuattro. GulfCorps is in the process of selecting two target communities where GulfCorps crews will implement 20 individual projects.

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