DENR cuts AmeriCorps program; Eno State Park loses naturalist

Sept. 27--DURHAM -- The North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) has decided to cut the AmeriCorps program, which provided environmental education and outreach staff in parks, zoos and other departments and facilities, for next year.

Drew Elliot, communications director for DENR, said the program would cost DENR about $150,000 to $200,000 for 2014-2015.

"(AmeriCorps) provided a lot of value," he said. "It was purely a budget-based decision."

The program, which is called Mountains to the Sea, matched participants with 20 DENR sites through 10-month terms. The participants received benefits such as living stipends and health care coverage.

Through this cut of the grant, Eno River State Park will be losing a naturalist upon the completion of Erin Harrison's 10-month term, which ends Oct. 2.

Harrison said the program was instrumental in helping her secure a full-time job as a water conservation specialist with the City of Durham through its focus on outreach and environment education.

"It hate it; it's unfortunate," she said about the program ending after its first year. "Environmental education and parks seem to (always) get the short end of the stick."

Jack Singley, park ranger for Eno River, said the loss of the position will affect the amount of programs and volunteer opportunities within the park.

"Erin gave over 110 programs while serving here in the park as well as many programs at local libraries and inner city Durham areas encouraging nature knowledge to all our citizens," Singley said in an email.

But Elliot said the cuts will not impair the overall mission of DENR because even though the positions were valuable, the members were not doing "essential" work due to the federal government's contract structure of AmeriCorps.

Participating programs and departments cannot bring in AmeriCorps staff in exchange for hiring full-time department staff, he said.

Elliot said the NCDENR still has an internship program it will be able to use for the type of work AmeriCorps members were doing.

"(Though) that doesn't mean we won't lose something by losing the program," he said.

The DENR was granted AmeriCorps funding last year and chose not to renew it this year through another application process, Elliot said.

According to the DENR department N.C. Environmental Education, which still lists the Mountains to the Sea program details for next year, 20 full-time positions were set to last from Oct. 19 to Aug. 21 of next year.

Through the funding structure, DENR was required to match funding for 24 percent of the grant each year, which puts the value of the overall grant for 2014-2015 at about $625,000 to $830,000 and an average cost to DENR of between $7,500 to $10,000 per position.

According to DENR, AmeriCorps members receive a $12,100 living stipend in addition to health insurance and workers' compensation insurance.

Upon completing the program, members also earn an education award that can be applied to student loans and future education costs. DENR estimated the award would be $5,730 for the 2014-2015 program year.

Robin Jacobs, executive director of the Eno River Association, said the gap left by the loss of the naturalist position is huge.

"There's no way we can fill all the gaps of the position they lost," Jacobs said. "While regular park staff, state biologists and volunteers will continue to providing programming at the park as they do now, the capacity simply does not exist to make up for the loss of the AmeriCorps position."

The Eno River Association works with the state park through things like education programs and is also the official park advisory committee.

Over the past six years, Eno River State Park has lost 30 percent of its positions, 25 percent of its budget and is open 20 percent more hours, Jacobs said.

"I definitely think (the park) could use more staff," Harrison said. "Rangers wear many hats ... (and) they have to turn down a lot of programs because they are so busy otherwise."

Since non-profits like the Eno River Association can also apply for AmeriCorps grants, Jacobs said the association has considered it in the past but determined that it would be too expensive.

"I don't think we could afford to do it," Jacobs said. "We're a small non-profit."

___

(c)2014 The Herald-Sun (Durham, N.C.)

Visit The Herald-Sun (Durham, N.C.) at www.heraldsun.com

Distributed by MCT Information Services