Youth aged 16 - 25 work in a crew setting to complete large amounts of work in short periods of time on public lands, city parks, and in communities.  Up to ten youth, directly supervised by two trained crew leaders, make up a CRR "Crew" who generally work 10-hour days, Monday through Thursday, while camping on-site.

WHAT CAN A CREW DO?
Teams have worked on a number of types of projects related to conservation and community development.  As a general rule, if it needs doing, a crew can do it.  Crew Leaders generally have experience in all kinds of conservation, light construction and landscaping projects. Crews have built trails, removed weeds, re-seeded or planted trees, built viewing areas and habitat pieces, set benches and signs, scraped, painted, cleaned, removed trash, and taken out tamarisk and Russian olive -- just as a few examples. 

WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS TO THE PROJECT SPONSOR?
Project sponsors often find that, in addition to the contribution they are making to the development of the youth participants of the CRR Program, they gain several beneficial things from the utilization of the Corps, including:

• Use of a Corps can increase chances of procuring grant monies for projects.
• Use of a Corps can add publicity and visibility to important projects.
• Project planning, grant writing, and other types of support may be  available from the CRR prior to actually beginning work on a project

WHAT MAKES A GOOD PROJECT?
In general, the Range Rider Youth Corps looks for projects that benefit both the community and the youth. A good project will meet the following criteria:
• Addresses community needs
• Have clearly stated and well-planned tasks and objectives
• Have tangible, lasting beneficial effects
• Consist of labor-intensive work that will engage 8-10 crew members effectively and efficiently for 8-10 hours a day
• Provide opportunities for Corpsmembers to develop new skills
• Give Corpsmembers a feeling of pride and accomplishment
Click HERE to see some past Range Rider Projects

HOW MUCH DOES WORKING WITH THE CORPS COST?
The CRR prefers to work in weeks or half-weeks of labor, these weeks are called "crew weeks."  The cost of a crew week is $5500.00, and includes 8-10 youth and two adult supervisors, who come with their own transportation, basic tools, and camping gear.  The crew arrives Sunday afternoon, works long days Monday - Thursday, and leaves on Thursday evening. 

WHO DOES THE CRR WORK WITH?
The Range Riders are Corps based in Eastern Colorado.  It is the goal of our organization to work with the most diverse group of agencies, organizations and communities possible in our our prairie environment.  In our initial two years of operation, our project sponsors have included:

• Colorado Division of Wildlife
• Bonny Lake State Park
• N. Sterling State Park
• Jackson Lake State Park
• The City of Fort Morgan
• The Community of Ellicott

HOW CAN I HOST A CREW?
Contact Helena Shea, Executive Director, for more information about hosting a crew in your community.