The Washington Service Corps (WSC) is a multi-focus intermediary program. As part of the AmeriCorps network, WSC oversees a consortium of approximately 200 partner sites across Washington state, recruiting, placing, and training between 500 and 600 AmeriCorps members at these sites each year. WSC developed, tested, and evaluated an intervention intended to build the organizational capacity for program evaluation and performance measurement among partner sites.

The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) is a voluntary program that offers financial incentives to farmers to restore riparian habitat and preclude agricultural activities in those buffers during the contract duration (10 or 15 years). The primary purpose of CREP is to restore habitat for salmon and steelhead and improve water quality in those streams.

This report summarizes the results of monitoring contracts signed through the end of 2012 and monitored for effectiveness for the calendar years of 2008-2012.

The study found that:

The Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) is a service program that provides opportunities to young adults to protect and restore the natural environment. WCC projects include enhancement and restoration of wetlands and riparian corridors.

Study Goals:

The goal of this impact evaluation report is to assess the effectiveness of different WCC restoration methods.

Research Question:

What are the relative benefits on plant survival when comparing solid tube protectors vs. deer repellant (Plantskydd®)?

Washington Conservation Corps (WCC) focuses on the design and implementation of environmental restoration projects, including wetland and riparian corridor enhancement and restoration. This report was contracted to The Watershed Company (TWC) to evaluate the success of grant-funded restoration projects by evaluating the efficacy of the WCC restoration activities from 2014-2015. TWC assessed changes in native cover and invasive cover via a Before-After, Control-Impact (BACI) statistical analysis. 

EarthCorps is a Seattle-based non-profit organization that trains young adults in environmental restoration techniques along shorelines, forests, and trails in the Puget Sound area. Over the course of a year-long training program, volunteers (including AmeriCorps members) learn practical skills that can be used to combat global warming, pollution, and environmental degradation.

Study Goals:

The Washington Reading Corps places AmeriCorps members in early learning centers and schools across Washington State. The program’s goal is to support the development of foundational and comprehensive literacy skills of struggling readers from pre-Kindergarten through Grade 6. The program seeks to achieve that goal through effective collaborations involving schools, community organizations, families, community members, business and state partners, and AmeriCorps.

Study Goals: