Incarcerated youth in Oregon help restore native plants and ecosystems

Incarcerated youth in Oregon are helping restore native plants and ecosystems through partnerships with nonprofits, according to reporting by the Oregon Capital Chronicle. At Camp Tillamook, youth work in a native plant nursery operated with the Tillamook Estuaries Partnership, growing plants used in watershed restoration projects across the Oregon Coast. In rural Oregon City, incarcerated youth can participate in a cultural ecology internship with Parrot Creek, where they remove invasive species, plant native vegetation and track wildlife. The program incorporates Indigenous knowledge from tribes local to the Willamette Valley and aims to build job skills and environmental awareness, according to program manager Ame Mañon-Ferguson. Youth in both programs said the work provides job experience and helps prepare them for future employment.