2,000 new hires coming this summer

About $24 million in federal stimulus money will be used in Indiana to hire 2,000 young adults over the next two summers.
The temporary state employees will improve parks, trails and natural habitats, including six areas in Jackson and Jennings counties.
"Our template for stimulus funds is jobs, speed and lasting value," Gov. Mitch Daniels said Tuesday. "This program puts young people to work, does it quickly and adds the best kind of enduring legacy in the enhanced natural beauty of Indiana."
The new state program, dubbed the Young Hoosiers Conservation Corps, will be funded with $21 million in stimulus money. Marion County will receive $3 million for programs to train and hire young people.

Although there was no dollar figure attached to the Jackson County projects, the area will participate with work slated for Driftwood Fish Hatchery, the Jackson-Washington State Forest, Southeast Region Nature Preserve and Vallonia Tree Nursery.

Work is slated for Crosley Fish and Wildlife Area and Selmier State Forest in Jennings County.

Federal requirements say the jobs will be for those between 16 and 24 with family incomes at or below the federal poverty level, which is about $23,000 for a family of four.

Daniels said that preference will be given to those receiving unemployment benefits and veterans, so most of those hired will be closer to age 24 than 16. The jobs will pay $8.50 an hour and will be scattered across the state.

The positions will begin no earlier than May 1 and end by Sept. 30, with the program to be overseen by the Department of Workforce Development. Job applications are being accepted immediately online. You may do so through a hotlink that accompanies this story online at TribTown.com.

The Department of Natural Resources expects to restore up to 2,600 acres of natural habitat areas, build up to 110 miles of new trails, rehabilitate more than 1,100 miles of existing trails and restore about 40 structures. The Knobstone Trail in Washington, Scott and Clark counties is among them.

The work will take place at about 100 DNR sites, including state parks, reservoirs, recreation areas, state forests, nature preserves and state historic sites.

"You can think of this as healthy outdoor work, but we will have some young, unemployed Hoosiers with a chance to make some money," Daniels said. "They will be getting job counseling and assistance throughout 16 weeks. Our goal is that during or shortly thereafter this experience they move on to other jobs."