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Veterans Conservation Corps — Habitat Work, Training and Ecotherapy, and You Pick Which Half
The Washington Veterans Conservation Corps is created by statute inside the Department of Veterans Affairs. An enrollee may choose the volunteer habitat-restoration projects list, the training, certification, ecotherapy and placement programme, or both. The department is directed to help enrollees find employment in conservation work.
Verified August 23, 2026
What this benefit is
The Washington Veterans Conservation Corps is created by statute inside the Department of Veterans Affairs. An enrollee may choose the volunteer habitat-restoration projects list, the training, certification, ecotherapy and placement programme, or both. The department is directed to help enrollees find employment in conservation work.
What it's worth: Habitat restoration work, training and certification, ecotherapy, and help finding conservation employment
- RCW 43.60A.150(1) creates the Washington veterans conservation corps, directs the department to establish enrolment procedures, and provides that enrollees may choose to participate in either or both the volunteer projects list and the training, certification, ecotherapy and placement programme authorised in RCW 43.60A.151.
- RCW 43.60A.150(2) directs the department to create a list of veterans interested in working on projects that restore Washington’s natural habitat, and provides that only veterans who grant their approval may be included on the list.
- RCW 43.60A.151(1) directs the department to assist enrollees with obtaining employment in conservation programmes and projects, including restoring natural habitat, maintaining and stewarding local, state and federal forestlands, and maintaining and improving urban and suburban stormwater management facilities; and permits agreements with educational institutions and conservation districts to provide training, internships and educational courses as part of the enrollee benefits.
- Neither section sets a wage, stipend or allowance, and no departmental figure was read this session. No dollar amount is published here.
Who is entitled to it
- You served, which is what this route is written around.
- You served, which is the gate the section sets.
- Your home is in Washington.
Not sure whether that describes you?
Answer a few questions about this benefit specifically — we only ask what this one actually depends on, and we stop as soon as we know.
How to claim it
- 1Decide which half you want before you enrol. RCW 43.60A.150(1) makes the volunteer projects list and the training, certification, ecotherapy and placement programme separate choices, and lets you take either or both.
- 2Say yes to the list explicitly if you want habitat work. The department may only include a veteran on the volunteer projects list where that veteran has granted approval.
- 3Ask about the training agreements if the goal is a job rather than a day outdoors. RCW 43.60A.151 lets the department contract with educational institutions and conservation districts for training, internships and educational courses as part of the enrollee benefits.
- 4Name the sectors when you ask about placement: habitat restoration, stewardship of local, state and federal forestlands, and urban and suburban stormwater management facilities are the ones the statute lists.
- 5Ask about ecotherapy separately. The statute names it as part of the RCW 43.60A.151 programme, which is a different thing from the volunteer list.
- 6Ask whether any position is paid before you plan around it. The statute authorises the programme and its training but sets no wage or stipend.
- Form
- Enrolment procedures established by the department
- File with
- Washington State Department of Veterans Affairs
- Documents you will need
- dd214
- No renewal
- Once granted it does not need renewing.
Worth knowingEcotherapy is named in the statute itself, not in a brochure. A veteran who wants the mental-health side of the corps rather than the employment side is asking for something the law already contemplates.
Known gapNo wage, stipend or hours figure appears in either section and none was read this session. Ask the department whether the specific placement you are offered is paid, volunteer, or a training place.
Sources
- authority · statuteRCW 43.60A.150, Veterans conservation corps — Created ("The Washington veterans conservation corps is created. The department shall establish enrollment procedures for the program. Enrollees may choose to participate in either or both the volunteer projects list authorized in subsection (2) of this section, and the training, certification, ecotherapy, and placement program authorized in RCW 43.60A.151"; the department shall create a list of veterans interested in working on projects that restore Washington's natural habitat, promote the opportunity through its local counselors and representatives, and include only veterans who grant their approval; the department shall consult the salmon recovery board, the recreation and conservation funding board, the department of natural resources, the department of fish and wildlife, the department of agriculture, conservation districts, and the state parks and recreation commission) [2017 c 185 s 3; 2007 c 451 s 2; 2007 c 241 s 6; 2005 c 257 s 2]
- operating · statuteRCW 43.60A.151, Veterans conservation corps — Employment assistance — Agreements for educational benefits — Receipt of gifts, grants, or federal moneys (the department shall assist veterans enrolled in the veterans conservation corps with obtaining employment in conservation programs and projects, including work to restore Washington's natural habitat, maintain and steward local, state and federal forestlands, and maintain and improve urban and suburban stormwater management facilities; the department must consult workforce training boards, community and technical colleges, the employment security department and other conservation corps administrators, and may enter agreements with educational institutions and conservation districts to provide training, internships and educational courses as part of the enrollee benefits) [2017 c 185 s 4; 2012 c 229 s 820; 2007 c 451 s 3]
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