DOGE Cuts AmeriCorps Project Conserve
An AmeriCorps program that has supported conservation in Western North Carolina for 20 years was abruptly terminated on Monday, at the direction of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). AmeriCorps Project Conserve included 24 members who were serving full-time at 14 nonprofits and local governments. Project Conserve members provided vital services to WNC communities, such as building trails, providing outdoor education, leading volunteers, controlling invasive plants, restoring wildlife habitat, and much more.
The cut comes in the middle of the eleven-month AmeriCorps term, leaving nonprofits and local governments struggling with an unexpected loss of capacity. It also leaves AmeriCorps members potentially facing an abrupt loss of the living stipend they use to pay their rent and buy groceries.
This action by DOGE cuts off grant funding that had already been awarded through the end of July, in a binding contract. The letter terminating the program gave no reason for breaking the contract, except that the “award no longer effectuates agency priorities.”
The state of North Carolina announced on Tuesday that it is joining a lawsuit challenging the termination of Congressionally-funded AmeriCorps programs as unlawful. A total of 24 states and the District of Columbia have joined the lawsuit.
So far, DOGE has cut 8 out of the 19 AmeriCorps programs in North Carolina and it has cut all of the AmeriCorps programs based in WNC.
AmeriCorps Project Conserve is a nonpartisan program that has served this region under four U.S. Presidents, both Republican and Democrat. The program provides vital support to conservation organizations working to protect our land and water—a goal that is widely shared, regardless of politics.
Conserving Carolina leads the program overall and also has five Project Conserve members on its team.
Executive director Kieran Roe states, “If your child went on one of our field trips to Bearwallow Mountain, it was an AmeriCorps Project Conserve member who helped them play and learn outdoors. If you enjoy hiking on our trails, you can thank the Project Conserve members who helped build and maintain them. If you want to get kudzu under control, we have Project Conserve members working hard on that. Consider that a total of 14 conservation organizations had one or more full-time Project Conserve members and you can see how much of an impact this program was having for conservation in WNC. Losing Project Conserve is a major blow, especially when we have so much work to do as we recover from Hurricane Helene.”
The impact of Project Conserve goes beyond the service that members provide during their AmeriCorps terms. The program also opens doors to conservation careers that make a powerful difference. At Conserving Carolina, one out of every two staff members was once an AmeriCorps member.
Project Conserve is an unlikely target for improving efficiency, since it provides exceptional return on investment. Members were serving full-time while earning only a modest living stipend. This stipend was split between the federal AmeriCorps program and the local partner organization.
Project Conserve was preparing to celebrate its 20th anniversary next month. In the last term alone, Project Conserve members provided over 49,000 hours of service in WNC. Since the program began, more than 500 Project Conserve members have provided more than 900,000 hours of service, strengthening our communities and protecting our land and water.
Roe says, “We are uncertain how the lawsuit brought by the states may affect the future of AmeriCorps Project Conserve. In the meantime, if you want to help, we encourage you to call your Members of Congress to share your concerns. You can also help by donating to local conservation nonprofits, at a time when we are looking for ways to maintain our programs without AmeriCorps support.”
