Civilian Conservation Center Enhancement Act of 2025
The Civilian Conservation Center Enhancement Act of 2025 proposes creating and expanding a system of Civilian Conservation Centers (CCCs)—residential workforce development and training facilities for underserved youth operated by the Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Department of the Interior (DOI). The bill would add a new Title III to Public Law 91-378 and authorize specialized training programs at CCCs, with a focus on forestry, rangeland management, and wildland firefighting, among other related topics. It directs coordination with the Department of Labor and prioritizes programs at facilities tied to existing workforce and training networks. A centerpiece is a Wildland Firefighting Workforce Development Pilot and a companion Workforce Enhancement program that set recruitment goals, direct-hire authority, career pathways, signing bonuses, and targeted employment provisions for covered graduates and underserved youth. The bill also creates a Housing Pilot Program to use CCC participants to help renovate and expand federal housing for wildland firefighters and other agency employees, and requires a Congress-facing report on capacity and needed investments within one year of enactment. In short, the bill aims to create and fund a pipeline of trained workers for forest and land management, especially wildland firefighting, by pairing residential training centers with targeted curricula, recruitment incentives, and housing initiatives, while providing Congress with an interim capacity assessment and recommendations for optimizing CCC utilization.
Key Points
- 1Creation and definition of Civilian Conservation Centers (CCCs): residential training facilities operated by the Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior to serve underserved youth, with specific terms for “covered student” and “covered graduate.”
- 2Specialized training programs for CCCs: coordinated, with the Department of Labor, to train for forestry and rangeland management, wildland firefighting, and other mission-relevant topics, prioritizing facilities tied to certain workforce training networks described in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act.
- 3Wildland Firefighting Workforce Development Pilot: experimental, research, or demonstration curricula at CCCs to deliver career and technical education in areas such as incident management, disaster response, forest products, machinery and equipment, forest restoration, habitat and water quality work, recreation access, and related subjects.
- 4Wildland Firefighting Workforce Enhancement: sets recruitment goals (e.g., 300 covered graduates annually for firefighting/related work), potential signing bonuses, direct-hire authority for graduates starting in 2025, development of career pathways, and provisions to employ covered students in federal contracting and grants where appropriate, including for disadvantaged youth.
- 5Wildland Firefighting Housing Pilot Program: a pilot to use covered students to improve or expand Federal housing for wildland firefighters and related personnel; requires identifying suitable properties, areas for new housing, and a prioritized renovation plan with implementation to employ covered students in repairs and upgrades.
- 6Reporting requirement: within one year of enactment, Secretaries must report to Congress on underutilized capacity at CCCs and the investments or changes needed to fully utilize CCC capacity.