Veterans Green Jobs’ West Coast Office Opens to Recruit Military Veterans for Outdoor Conservation Work in California and Nevada

California Back Country Trails Crew and Fire Crew Offer Hands-On Training to Veterans

February 23, 2012, SACRAMENTO, Calif. – Veterans Green Jobs, a national Denver-based nonprofit organization, announced it has hired a West Coast outreach and placement associate to recruit military veterans for outdoor conservation work throughout California and parts of Nevada. Veterans Green Jobs received a $100,000 grant from Metabolic Studio to recruit veterans for the Veterans Green Corps program, which equips military veterans with training and hands-on experience in outdoor conservation and prepares them for job opportunities in the natural resources field.

Greg Snyder, heading up the Veterans Green Corps West Coast office

Greg Snyder, who served in the Iraq War and is a veteran of the U.S. Army Military Police, has been hired to staff the West Coast office. The office is located at the California Conservation Corps’ headquarters building in Sacramento.

Veterans Green Corps is a collaborative initiative of Veteran Green Jobs and conservation corps organizations throughout the U.S. It offers military veterans positions on seasonal service crews performing outdoor conservation, fire mitigation and energy-related projects. These crews earn a modest living stipend while gaining certification, on-the-job training and work experience that positions them to compete for land management, wilderness firefighting and other green careers. More than 175 veterans participate annually in this program throughout the western United States.

Snyder is currently recruiting veterans to participate in a California backcountry trails program, where veterans will maintain trails and camp in remote locations throughout the state. The crew season begins April 23 and lasts 22 weeks. He is also recruiting veterans for fire crews based in San Diego and Lake Tahoe. Fire crews complete fire mitigation projects by thinning trees and preparing forests to withstand fires. Corps members receive saw certification training and get Red Carded to fight forest fires. This crew season also begins in April. Application deadline information and other program details are available at www.veteransgreenjobs.org/veteransgreencorps.

Former Veterans Green Corps crewmembers have gone on to get full-time and seasonal jobs with such agencies as San Bernardino National Forest, Shawnee National Forest, Kalamath National Forest, National Park Service, California State Parks, Bureau of Land Management, Springville Hotshots and the Wildland Firefighter Apprenticeship Program.

Prior to joining Veterans Green Jobs, Snyder was a corps member conservationist with the California Conservation Corps. He has received training and/or certifications in chain saw management, flood mitigation, arboriculture, trail management and fuel reduction, and has volunteered more than 4,000 hours with AmeriCorps. He received a bachelor’s degree in liberal studies from Bowling Green State University in Bowling Green, Ohio.

Snyder was an air traffic controller and recruiter on active duty with the U.S. Army in Killeen, Texas, and was with the Army Reserves Military Police in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is a veteran of the Iraq War (OIF), having served in Iraq for six months in 2005. He was honorably discharged from the U.S. Army in 2006.