CONIFER, Colo. - The spotter shouted "Falling!" as the sawyer hit the wedge one last time and a dead Douglas fir fell to the ground. The tree cutting was part of a Mile High Youth Corps (MHYC) project to remove hazardous trees from Staunton State Park. The MHYC work at Staunton, located west of Conifer, will help prepare the park for opening to the public in the next few years.

The young adults on the 10-person crew were a mix of AmeriCorps Leadership and Conservation Program corps members andPublic Land Conservation and Restoration Program corps members. Both programs are offered at MHYC.

"Overall, it has been a very positive experience," said Colin Hoffmann, who worked as a sawyer on the Staunton State Park project. Hoffmann wants to continue being involved in service activities and non-profit organizations.

Chris Sinclair served as Hoffmann's spotter and then as his swamper, dragging branches down the hill to the chipper as Hoffmann cut branches off the dead tree and cut the trunk into manageable pieces. In addition to the job skills that corps members learn while running the equipment, the setting gives them the opportunity to interact with people of diverse backgrounds, which helps promotes personal growth.

This year, Mile High Youth Corps members worked on two Colorado State Park projects funded by an American Recovery and Reinvestment Act sub-grant awarded to the Colorado Youth Corps Association by the Colorado State Forest Service. The U.S. Forest Service awarded ARRA funds to the Colorado State Forest Service through a competitive grant process in November 2009.

At the end of the last day of work at Staunton, the crew loaded themselves and their equipment into the youth corps van and drove back to Denver. The logs from the hazard trees were now stacked, and branches were chipped. The Staunton State Park project was the final ARRA-funded Colorado Youth Corps Association project for the year. Two Russian-olive removal projects remain on the Mile High Youth Corps project calendar before the field season ends in mid-November, and additional work in state parks will resume in June 2011.

To learn more about the Mile High Youth Corps, visit www.milehighyouthcorps.org. The Colorado Youth Corps Association, www.cyca.org, is a statewide coalition of 10 accredited youth conservation corps whose goal is to create productive and active citizens by offering environmental education, life skills and job-readiness training to participants.

Staunton State Park will be Colorado's 43rd state park when it opens to the public in the next few years after a road is built and other development projects are completed.

Attracting more than 12 million visitors per year, Colorado's 42 State Parks are a vital cornerstone of Colorado's economy and quality of life. Colorado State Parks encompass 225,260 land and water acres, offering some of the best outdoor recreation destinations in the state. Colorado State Parks is a leader in providing opportunities for outdoor recreation, protecting the state's favorite landscapes, teaching generations about nature and partnering with communities. Colorado State Parks also manage more than 4,100 campsites, and 57 cabins and yurts. For more information on Colorado State Parks or to purchase an annual pass online, visit www.parks.state.co.us.