Field Work In The Time Of COVID
 
Dave Bastian1*, Sean Damitz2, and Brigit Eastep3
 
1Canyon Country Youth Corps, Monticello, UT; daveb@ccdiscovery.org 2Utah Conservation Corps/Logan, UT; sean.damitz@usu.edu  3Intergovernmental Internship Cooperative, Cedar City, UT; eastep@suu.edu
 
The COVID pandemic hit the United States and lockdowns began to roll across the country right at the time that many Conservation Corps were gearing up for their field season. In the case of Utah Corps programs, many of our participants were on site on March 16th when Utah began its COVID restrictions. Faced with sending members home or quickly figuring out ways to adapt, Utah Conservation Corps chose the latter.  We successfully navigated to a new normal, finding ways to engage in work while public lands were shut down, and collaborating with each other and national programs to come up with field protocols to keep our members, staff, and partners safe as they returned to public lands projects.
 
Now, with one of the most challenging field seasons in our rear-view mirror, we can say we learned a quite a bit, made some correct moves, made many adjustments along the way, and emerged with a feeling that we can do it again once the 2021 field season begins. And we are not just going off of a gut feeling. We have some data to back it up.
 
In this presentation, we will tell some stories, share some tips, and present the data in a way that will hopefully encourage others to continue this important work in what will likely be another tough field season to come.