Orange County · Est. 1993
Transforming OC's environment.
And young lives.
For 30+ years, Orange County's young adults have built real careers through hands-on conservation across our beaches, trails, and watersheds.
For 30+ years, Orange County's young adults have built real careers through hands-on conservation across our beaches, trails, and watersheds.
Cash back in Irvine, Tuesday to Saturday. Free business pickup, too.
Many organizations restore land. Almost none can say the land was the classroom. The work we do transforms landscapes. The mission transforms lives.
From Crystal Cove to Santiago Creek, our crews do the physical work: restoring habitat, clearing fire-prone brush, cleaning shorelines, and responding to emergencies. Corpsmembers leave with skills, confidence, and proof that they can make an impact.
See the work up close →
Crews put native trees, shrubs and seedlings in the ground, then clear the invasive growth that would crowd them out. Over a season it brings a creek bank or a neglected park back to life.
Crews work the sand and the wetlands, pulling out the trash and debris that washes in and gets left behind, so the shoreline and the habitat behind it stay healthy.
Crews cut back the dry, fire-prone brush that puts homes and open space at risk, open up defensible space, and help communities clear debris and recover after a fire moves through.
Crews build and maintain green stormwater infrastructure: bioretention basins and living systems that capture rain where it falls, use plants and soil to filter it, and reduce the pollution that would otherwise reach our creeks and coast.
Bring your bottles and cans to our Irvine center and get paid the California Redemption Value, Tuesday through Saturday. Businesses can set up free pickup instead. Corpsmembers run it all and earn certifications, and the proceeds fund their training.
6:45 AM
8:00 AM
10:00 AM
11:30 AM
12:30 PM
1:30 PM2:30 PM29 paid hours a week. A mentor who supports your growth. Education that fits around your life. Open to Orange County residents aged 18 to 26, and to Anaheim residents through 30. No experience required.
29 hours per week on real conservation crews. Your first paycheck starts here.
Diplomas, certifications, and post-secondary pathways built around your schedule.
An individual service strategy and a case manager in your corner. Support that doesn't disappear when it gets hard.
Direct pipelines into environmental services, construction, and public agencies. The Corps is just the beginning.
They didn't just hand us books. They gave us a crew, a paycheck, and a reason to get up in the morning.
Whether you give or join a crew yourself, you're investing in young people, and in the wild places they're restoring for all of us.