By Shannon Lukens.

 

They are all women, and they are ready to fight fires.

The Rocky Mountain Youth Corps has debuted the first-ever, all-women fire mitigation crew this summer. They’re actually a chainsaw crew doing fuels reduction work. But they are ready in case there is a wildfire.

Here’s Ashley Roscoe with Rocky Youth Corps.

 

“Historically we have had co-ed saw crews and we thought it might be really cool to do an all women’s crew just to have a really supportive learning environment for women.”

 

The nine women are between 18 and 23 years old. They’re working ten weeks in the field, throughout the Medicine Bow and Routt National Forest, including the Thunder Basin Grassland in Wyoming, which is where they are clearing trails today. The program is designed to recruit people into federal jobs.

 

The Mission of the Rocky Mountain Youth Corps is: “Rocky Mountain Youth Corps engages young people in the outdoors, empowering them to use their strengths and potential to lead healthy, productive lives. They build resiliency in themselves, communities and ecosystems through teamwork, service and experiential education.”

 

RMYC Debuts First-ever All-women’s Fire Mitigation Crew