PSU Magazine Fall 1995

infested weeds on hot summer after– noon . But it wasn't all hard labor; occasionally, environmental experts gave the group informal lectures about the importance of native specie and the problem of invasive pecies in the urban environment. In early 1995, two profess ional planning consultants worked with EnviroCorps to complete a master plan for property owned by the Halton Tractor Co. along Whitaker Ponds. EnviroCorps members learned mapp ing and surveying techniques, eventually producing three landscap– ing plans. Cowultants merged th e plans into one that is now being EnviroCorps allowed (left to right) Erik Steffens, Richard Melo, and Tamra Cochran to work with youth, the community, and the environment. 10 PSU MAGAZINE FALL 1995 implemented . Halton Tractor is contributing supplies and materials to make the plan a reality. One unusual project involved the city of Portland Bureau of Environ– mental Services. Envi roCorps assisted bureau offi cials in di connecting down– spouts on homes throughout north Portland. The program is part of the city's efforts to reduce the amount of rainwater funneled into the city's over– burdened sewer system. EnviroCorps workers canvassed homeowners about the project, drew maps of down pout ites, helped with disconnections, and taught neighborhood volunteers how to disconnect downspouts. "This project was a pretty good match of our needs and Envi roCorps' needs," says Barbara George, manager of the disconnection program. "Typicall y, our program has had a small staff. It would have taken u many weeks to do whar the EnviroCorps people did in a much shorte r time. "It' been fun fo r us to watch their enthu iasm," she adds. "They qui ck ly lea rned what needed to be learned." Indeed, the down pout di ·connec– tion program gave Envirocorp workers an oppo rtunity to see an environmental problem from a different perspective. "It helped them see how people contribute to a pollution problem," George says. "The physical activity of cleaning up a slough or reducing weed is fine, but this help them lea rn other ways that human beings cause pollu– tion." uch experi ence is not lost on Erik Steffens, a 2 I-yea r-old Concordi a University student who expects to graduate next year with a bachelor's degree in environmental remedi ation and hazardous material management. Steffens lea rned about environmental rehab not only from experts in the field, but also from fellow EnviroCorps members. "Each member brought different areas of expertise to the program," he says. "Several crew members already knew a lot about biology and wetland . We drew on each other, asking ques– tions of each other." Steffens also realized that he doesn't want to work in an office, and he learned about teamwork. "I'm a pretty individualistic-minded person , so it was good for me to learn how to work in a group setting," he says. Steffens was mo re surprised at what he ga ined from the one-on -one work with high school teens in the summer Youth Partners program co- ponsored by the Pri vate Industry Counci l. "When I first jo ined Envi roCorps, I thought this program would be totally environmental, but much has been human- and community– oriented," Steffens says. "It's not so much that I'm teaching them about the environment, but they're teaching me about things as they learn how to improve their li ves." For Melo, EnviroCorps is both prac– tical and ideal. The program's educa– tion monetary awa rd is a neces ity as he pays off student loans from under– gradw1te work at San Francisco State University while dealing with car payments and assorted other bills. But EnviroCorps' altruistic elements are likely to have a mo re last ing impact. '·'In th e back of my mind, I always wante I to join the Peace orps. I was ready to drop everything to jo in, but I also believe that some of our greatest problems are domestic. I was looking fo r a job when the EnviroCorps oppo r– tunity came along," Melo says. Melo's experience convinced him to follow a ca reer in community service. As of thi August, he wasn't certain what work he would be doing when the program's first year ended in eptember, but he was confident of getting some– thing in community service. "My own resume is blossoming into something special from references I can list. It would have taken yea rs of differ– ent jobs to get the Iist of references I compiled this past year," he says. Melo believes the benefits of EnviroCorps are long- term . Many of the team' projects are just getting off the ground, he says. There's optimism that they can be completed if EnviroCorps is allowed to evolve. Says Avis Dunas, the former radio publicist, "What we did in our own little ways did help the community. It did make a difference." 0 (Brian White is a staff writer in PSU's Office of Public Relations.)