Student Conservation Corps, Trails Crew essential during summer

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, March 24, 2026

Summer is a big season for the park districts. Warm weather means more parkgoers, more plant growth, and more time for maintenance and volunteering to keep park facilities in tip-top shape.

At the March 3 Bainbridge Island Metro Parks and Recreation District board meeting, volunteer program manager Sierra Kross and natural resources manager Morgan Houk explained that the Student Conservation Corps and the Trails Crew provide crucial maintenance efforts during the active season.

Kross gave a presentation to parks commissioners on the SCC program, now in its 16th year, and elaborated on planned updates for this summer. SCC will be back in full force in 2026, Kross said, with staff adding some improvements to hiring and recruitment, curriculum, and the pursuit of funding.

SCC is a summer job program for high-school-age students that teaches conservation skills through park maintenance and weekly talks from conservation professionals, aiming to jumpstart students’ careers in the environmental sector. Participants work at sites both on- and off-trail in parks around the island, learning to identify and remove invasive plants, collect trash, and spread mulch.

What began in 2010 as a single 12-day program has expanded to four three-week sessions over the course of the summer. While BIMPRD supports about 60% of the program budget, additional funding came from the Bainbridge Island Parks & Trails Foundation, City of Bainbridge Island, Bainbridge Island Land Trust, and Ocean Conservancy with Sustainable Bainbridge in 2025.

Last year, SCC teams worked at a total of 12 sites, restored 96 acres of habitat, removed 325 yards of invasive species and garbage, spread 20 yards of mulch and logged almost 4,000 hours of labor.

The parks district added a neurodiverse team of students to SCC in 2025, focusing on job skills to prime participating students for employment after high school — the first of its kind in the state of Washington. Parks staff match neurodivergent SCC members with neurotypical peer mentors, who work together to build professional skills. In its first year, the Neurodiverse SCC team cleared about 60 yards of invasive species, spread about 10 yards of woodchip mulch, planted around 100 native plants, and learned to identify invasive species.

Deeper in the parks, the BIMPRD Trails Crew, founded in 2015, is a similar program for college-aged youth that focuses on trail maintenance and construction. It’s a smaller group, Houk explained — only about four staff members who work full-time throughout the summer — and its funding comes entirely from the BI Parks and Trails Foundation.

In 2025, the Trails Crew cleared encroaching brush on the Lost Valley trail corridor, rebuilt beach access infrastructure on the Westwood Shore trail, closed unofficial trails to curb erosion, improved the tread of trails in Gazzam Lake Nature Preserve, and performed infrastructure maintenance in West Port Madison Nature Preserve.

SCC applications open

The parks district is now accepting applications for 2026 SSC positions.

Interested applicants must complete an online application through Government Jobs: governmentjobs.com/careers/biparks

In addition to applying online, all candidates are required to attend one in-person “Interview Work Party.” During these sessions, applicants will participate in group activities and demonstrate teamwork and initiative.

Interview Work Parties will be held at Sakai Park (1560 Madison Ave N) on the following dates: April 25, 10 a.m.–noon; April 27, 2-4 p.m.; April 28, 4-6 p.m.; and April 29, 4-6 p.m.

Applicants must register online in advance for one Interview Work Party: biparks.galaxydigital.com/need/detail/?need_id=1225443

SCC is hiring both crew members and leaders for multiple summer programs, such as:

• Neurodiverse SCC: June 30–July 17 (no program July 3)
• Session A: June 29–July 16 (no program July 3)
• Session B: July 20–Aug. 5
• Session C: Aug. 10–26

Leadership positions extend beyond session dates, with all roles ending Sept. 4.