The Comeback Crew: Maryland Conservation Corps Returns Stronger Than Ever
"Thankful that weird period is behind us"
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For 41 years, the Maryland Conservation Corps (MCC) has helped young adults launch careers in conservation. But this year has brought unexpected challenges.
In late April, MCC was abruptly suspended following the sudden termination of federal grant funding. On the evening of Friday, April 25, the Maryland Park Service acted quickly—mobilizing resources, coordinating efforts, facilitating strategic planning, and working to chart a path forward.
By May 27, the Maryland Department of Natural Resources had reinstated the program with state funds. Then, on June 5, a U.S. District Judge issued a nationwide injunction in a lawsuit brought by Maryland and other states, temporarily blocking the cancellation of federal grants and early discharge of corps members.
I sat down with Harrison Wittle, Crew Lead for the Maryland Conservation Corps at Patapsco Valley State Park, under a shelter in the McKeldin area, to reflect on that uncertain time in April—and to talk about the work his team is doing now and what lies ahead for the program.
Thank you for meeting with me. I’d like you to walk me through what happened in April with the funding cuts—those initial hours and days. Did you have any warning?
I will say, the lead above me had heard some things—there was talk going around that something might happen. It wasn’t anything definitive, like, ‘We’re getting thrown out soon’ or ‘It’s going to be canceled.’ But about a week before, it was brought to our attention that this could be happening soon.
We were out at Fort Frederick—my crew specifically—and we got a call on Saturday. It had been stopped the day before, on Friday. So the official word came out technically the same day. That said, there were signs—talk that things were going downhill prior to it a little bit. It wasn’t great.
So, MCC is reinstated now?
We’re reinstated now. Once it happened in April, we were out for about a month. Then the state picked up the funding, so we came back. We had about a 50% return rate—by that point, a lot of people had found other positions or taken AmeriCorps positions through other programs. Here at Patapsco, four of our six members came back, which is really good.
Just last week, we got word that AmeriCorps funding has been more or less restored. They’ll be taking over our program funding again for the rest of the year. So—we’re back! It’s been a lot of bouncing around, but we’re back.
What is MCC working on in the park?
So here specifically, over the past couple of weeks since we’ve been back, we’ve been doing EAB treatments for emerald ash borer—mostly at Avalon, and a bit farther out in Susquehanna.
[Editor’s note: emerald ash borer is an invasive beetle that feeds on ash trees and is considered a highly destructive forest pest.]
Recently, this past week, we’ve done a lot of invasive removal. McKeldin is ground zero for so many invasives, so we’re trying to tackle that and come up with plans for reasonable removal. Certain areas, like the woods, are going to be harder to address than other spots. So in more manageable areas, we can take the invasives out and do native plantings to try to restore those areas.
We’re doing a lot of trail work right now—a lot of trail construction. Over at Susquehanna, we worked on a new re-route recently. Their old re-route got washed away. We did a bit of new trail digging and helped the forest reclaim some of that old path.
So we've got our hands in a lot of pots here. We do a little bit of everything. This past week, we were helping master naturalists do work in gardens—learning about native pollinators and the plants that might inhibit some of those pollinators from coming to our parks. So yeah, we get our hands in a lot of different pots for sure. It’s a lot of fun!
The loss of the MCC crew was deeply felt—I’ve heard that from many people across the park.
Once we were cut, a lot of work had to be done somehow. For example, the EAB treatments took place about two weeks after the suspension. We had nine MCC members come back as volunteers for the day, along with a few full-time staff and various rangers who work more locally in those areas. The timing was tough, trying to make up for everything we were missing without the MCC crews. It was really challenging, but we did our best. Now that we’re back, we’re focused on finishing some of those projects. It’s great to have the gang back.
The fact that they lost their positions and still came back to help—that says a lot. Looking ahead, what gives you hope for the future of the MCC?
My boss—and the higher-ups at MCC—they’ve been great. I really can’t speak highly enough of them. They’ve been with us every step of the way through this whole process, showing support not just in the workplace but as people, which has meant a lot. Especially for the members—it helped to see that we weren’t the only ones affected by this. It means a lot to have them around and doing what they’re doing.
And honestly, the way everyone rallied around us once we got back—it kind of reinvigorated people. It was like, okay, we did make a difference, and people do care. Morale among the returning members has been really good. Everyone’s just happy to be back and thankful that weird period is behind us.
The week the program was stopped, we had to look ahead on the calendar—one or two months out—and figure out: how are we going to make these programs happen? Whether it was trail building, EAB treatments, or local education programs, there was a lot to consider. Like, we’ve got a group of twelve girls coming out for the STEM program—they’ll be learning about women in STEM, how they get into the field, and what careers they go into.
It’s easy not to think about it when you’re not involved in the program, but so much falls by the wayside. So having us back, and seeing that kind of outpouring of support—it’s made a huge difference for morale.
I’ll just say—I think people could really use an uplifting story, and this has been one. I’m really glad MCC is back.
It’s been incredible having everyone return. It’s such a versatile job—one that really sets people up well for future positions if they choose to stay in this field. It’s always rewarding to hear what former MCC members have gone on to achieve. Knowing the program is back, moving forward, and going strong—it’s just really reassuring.