Stimulus funds to put Ore. teens to work on parks

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Federal stimulus funds are expected to employ nearly 2,000 Oregon teenagers to fix and maintain city parks under the $6.5 million Oregon Youth Employment Initiative.

The Oregonian newspaper reports teenagers from across the state will earn $8.40 an hour, which is minimum wage, and collectively log more than 100,000 hours by the end of summer.

Next summer, they are to be hired again to complete an additional 290,000 hours of work.

Their duties in the coming months include clearing trails, digging out invasive species and cleaning up parks and recreation areas.

The initiative also will provide pay for members of 13 in-school crews that already exist across the state. The crews have put students to work for years but had not provided pay.

"Getting paid to do this just makes the job all the better," said 17-year-old Alejandro Alvarez, who's works on the Reynolds Learning Academy's crew, one of the 13 that will begin paying students.

The initiative is the brainchild of Mount Hood National Forest supervisor Gary Larsen. After hearing the call for stimulus-package grants, he called colleagues across the state, then drafted a proposal he had worked on with the public and private sectors.

"Having had four kids of my own who went through Oregon schools, I knew how important work and conservation are," Larsen said. "I thought how wonderful it would be if we could aim something toward youth that involved both meaningful work and opportunities and nature."

Coordinators of the Oregon Youth Employment Initiative say they want to send additional crews to areas hardest hit by the recession.

The program also is expected to hire 175 adults to supervise the teenage crews at from $12 to $15 an hour.

"This has all come at us so fast," said program director John Asher. "We're scrambling to get a lot of things done right now, but we're looking forward to a great summer."
     
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