MONTAUK STATE PARK, SALEM — Two young women hand pick truck loads of trash and debris from an old dump which has not been cleaned in thirty years.

A stream team, the first ever at Montauk, wades through the cold waters and scours the banks for trash, cutting down “death lines” of hanging fishing lines and hooks which snare birds and bats.

“Each one of these projects has their own stories of success,” explains Steve Bost, Montauk park naturalist, as he holds a thick folder filled with other projects he intends to tackle. It’s a wish list of sorts, and its beginning to come true despite budget restrictions and manpower shortages.

The makeover of Montauk is possible because of a new program called the State Parks Youth Corps (SPYC). Governor Jay Nixon launched the program to provide much needed labor to Missouri’s state parks and much needed employment to Missourians ages 17 to 24. Nearly 1,000 young men and women are offered temporary, summer employment at Missouri’s 85 state parks and historic sites — working jobs which vary from trail maintenance to web design. A chief goal of SPYC is to encourage participants to “Think Outside” by working on projects which enhance Missouri’s natural resources.
At Montauk, Bost quickly recognized what SPYC could do for the park. He’s always made the best of available resources, but reductions were unavoidable.

“We were so short staffed,” he explained. “We had to cut back on programs.”

Montauk received a labor boost when more than two dozen SPYC members were scheduled to work. Fiscally, it’s even more advantageous to park because it’s not writing any SPYC paychecks. The program is implemented by local Workforce Investment Boards. The Central Ozark Private Industry Council based in Rolla operates SPYC at Montauk and funds the program. Applicants qualify by income and are interviewed in depth by park staff before hiring. Bost said he’s very impressed with the attitude and work ethic of the people who wanted applied for the corps.

“They’re not just thinking about today, they’re thinking about how it’s going to affect the future. They’re having a significant, long term impact on the quality of the park.”

Bost said there is “a good cross section of talent” that he tried to match with the projects at Montauk. They are assigned or choose jobs based on existing skills, as well as jobs which follow their enthusiasms.

Kaylyn Dalbom, 19, of Plato, has a commitment to environmental preservation. She and Emily Karnes, 18, of Edgar Springs, spend most of their mornings striping layers of garbage (“pick up one layer, uncover another, it never stops,” says Karnes) from an old dump on the park used from the 1920s until the 1970s.

“It’s kind of disheartening people did this back then,” said Dalbom. “But, I guess they didn’t know better.”

They’ve dubbed it “the motherpile,” and a shift there is part archeology, part rubbish removal. Little treasures are often found, including an antique, hand painted, ceramic doll’s head crafted in Germany. They’re taken to another SPYC member who researches and catalogues historical items.

Zach Fitzwater, a 22 year old student at Missouri S&T, has put in a lot of hours to make the mill what Bost describes as “the cleanest it’s been in five years.” The long term goal is restore the mill back to original condition under water power. It’s a long process that began with Fitzwater, who has literally worked from top to bottom to begin the restoration. One aspect which makes cleaning a challenge is the influence of bats that have colonized the mill. Though they eat many thousands of mosquitos, the bats also leave behind equal thousands of unpleasant mementos which can damage historic items. Fitzwater has installed bat-proof netting to keep the bats away from the most sensitive property. It’s important to Fitzwater on personal level to protect the history of the mill. When he gives tours, he emphasizes to children how historical places are fragile and irreplaceable.

“Kids take this stuff for granted,” said Fitzwater. “But once it’s gone, it’s gone.”

SPYC workers are also working with maintenance staff to keep grass trimmed and camp sites clean. Several buildings in the park need roofs re-shingled, and the youth corps has taken the task. A trail maintenance crew is opening trails which have overgrown, and several landscaping projects are ongoing. A plant bed in front of the lodge is currently being replanted with native wildflowers with the specific design of attracting hummingbirds.

Bost likes to remind the SPYC workers that in 1935, the park was built by young people like themselves. Hundreds of thousands of teenagers and twenty somethings were hired into the Civilian Conservation Corps during the great depression and put to work in projects which restored America’s natural resources and improved access to parks.

For those who are interested in a career in wildlife science, forestry, or similar studies, SPYC can be a quite a stepping stone. For a summer paycheck, it can be an interesting experience. Whether they’re studying for a GED or a college graduate, youth corps workers can leave the program at Montauk with a lesson in renewal.

“There’s an eagles nest in what was a dump,” said Bost. “What could be a better token of restoration than that?”

There are still openings in SPYC. Interested applicants should contact a local Missouri Career Center.

Story and photos by Joe Hawkins, Journalist/Grant Writer for the Central Region Workforce Investment Board.