The Green Bay Conservation Corps Earth Day event, April 22, 2023. PC: Fox 11 Online
GREEN BAY, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Green Bay is weighing the future of its Conservation Corps after AmeriCorps programs across the country became part of President Donald Trump’s DOGE cost cutting efforts.
Formed two-and-a-half years ago, Green Bay’s Conservation Corps has been doing work city staff previously didn’t have the resources to take care of.
“We’ve done a lot of invasive removals,” said Green Bay Parks Director Dan Ditscheit. “We’ve done a lot of prairie plantings all over the community. We’ve done a lot of volunteer community projects. The list is very extensive and I could go on and on with that.”
On Monday, the city found out federal funding for the program was being cut and sent the Corps’ 13 members home.
Before the Corps, volunteer groups were relied on for projects in the city’s 2,658 acres of recreational space and greenways.
“We would coordinate with them to do minimal trail maintenance or place woodchips in parks, pick up garbage, stuff like that,” said Ditscheit. “It was hit or miss and it was really only when volunteers approached us that the work got done.”
The White House says AmeriCorps reported $40 million in improper payments last year, attributing them to insufficient documentation from grantees, calculation errors and miscoded expenses.
U.S. Rep. Tony Wied, R-8th District, issued the following statement:
House Republicans are working to ensure that taxpayer dollars are spent wisely after decades of out-of-control federal spending. While programs like AmeriCorps are generally beneficial to our region, we need to evaluate taxpayer-funded programs on a case-by-case basis to ensure every dollar is spent effectively. I will continue to work with the Trump Administration to ensure we can continue to fund necessary programs while working to make our government more efficient.
For now, city staff is seeking council approval to use up to $25,897 of city money to bring the Conservation Corps workers back for one month.
There’s $60,000 worth of prairie plantings sitting in a greenhouse that need to get in the ground, or they’ll have to be donated to someone who could put them to use, according to Ditscheit.
After the month of work, the Conservation Corps’ future is unclear.
“It’s too early to say what our proposals are going to be,” said Ditscheit. “I’m hopeful we can come up with something that continues the program to at least some capacity.”
The council will vote next Tuesday on spending the money for the one month of work.
The city has $120,891 budgeted for the Conservation Corps this year. The plan is to use $44,865 that is left to keep three fulltime staff members on board for up to three months.
Green Bay’s program is one of 25 AmeriCorps programs in Wisconsin, according to Gov. Tony Evers’ office.
Wisconsin is one of two dozen states suing to try to block the cuts.
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