WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators John Hickenlooper, Jeff Merkley, and Steve Daines recently introduced the bipartisan Civilian Conservation Center Enhancement Act of 2025, which would create a pipeline for young people to enter into careers fighting fires and caring for public lands.
Specifically, this bill directs the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) to offer wildland firefighter training to Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center students.
“Colorado’s wildfires are growing more intense. We all agree that we can’t wait to act,” said Hickenlooper. “Our bill sets students on a direct path to stable careers caring for our public lands, and builds a firefighting force that’s ready to meet the urgent threat of climate change.”
The Job Corps is the nation’s largest job training and education program for students from 16 to 24 years of age. The U.S. Forest Service operates 24 Civilian Conservation Centers (CCCs) nationwide, including one in Colorado.
During the 2024 fire season, CCC youth across the country completed 205,882 hours of work on wildland firefighting efforts and prescribed burns to reduce hazardous fuels and the risk of catastrophic wildfire, and 11,410 hours on other fire management support functions, including providing meals through mobile kitchens.
The Civilian Conservation Center Enhancement Act would further strengthen the program by setting a goal for both the USDA and the DOI to hire 300 students a year and providing direct hire authority specific to CCC graduates to expedite that process. It would also create a pilot program to use students at CCCs to address the lack of workforce housing for wildland firefighters.
The full text of the bill is available HERE.
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