Tess HankeyMy name is Tess Hankey and I am the Eastern Communications Representative for Conservation Legacy based in Chattanooga, Tennessee. I work for the central staff team but am lucky enough to be living right near the office of one of our eastern programs, Southeast Conservation Corps!
My background in the conservation field started in 2012 when I joined the California Conservation Corps Backcountry Tails Program in Yosemite National Park. Fast forward a few years and I moved up to Montana to be a crew leader with Montana Conservation Corps in the greater Yellowstone region. After many years dabbling in other types of work in July of 2022, I found myself back in the corps world when I was hired on with Conservation Legacy.
I was hired on to work specifically with the eastern programs (Appalachian Conservation Corps, Southeast Conservation Corps, Stewards Individual Placements – East, Conservation Corps North Carolina) on any website, video, social media, photo needs. I’ve been lucky enough already to have gone to visit several crews in the Southeast and am looking forward to more upcoming trips this spring! (You’re next, Conservation Corps North Carolina! 😊)
Last fall, when discussing priority projects for the eastern programs, the same topic kept coming up: We need more media attention on our growing fire crews in the east! Conservation Legacy has so many interesting crew models developing on this side of the country—Women’s+ Fire Crew, Veterans Fire Crews, even a Skillbridge crew out of Conservation Corp North Carolina that takes currently enlisted military members on and teaches them new wildland firefighting skills during the last few months of their military careers.
In the past, media and communications representatives have had a hard time getting access to fire crews without the proper certifications which led to a fun idea floated to me by Communications Director, Jenna Rosengren. She suggested that I just go ahead and get a red card while the new crews were having their orientation so I could go visit crews on fire projects without having to worry about all the red tape!
After a little digging (and help from Conservation Legacy staff, Michael Meredith), in order to get a red card (and I did a “baby” red card – with a moderate pack test) I would have to pass these trainings:
- Wilderness First Aid
- S212 – Wildland Fire Chainsaw Training
- S130/S190 – Firefighter Training
Now when I signed up for an “office job” for a conservation organization I was not expecting to be running chainsaws or learning how to dig a fireline with crewmembers, but I definitely didn’t hate it!
The first two weeks of trainings were led by Program Director, Matt Cottam and Logistics Coordinator, Stephanie Douthitt from Southeast Conservation Corps. We started with Wilderness First Aid and learned about common injuries that may be encountered in the field, to more serious situations that could occur while on hitch. At the end of each of our long classroom days, I watched the fire crews suit up to go do PT together to physically prepare for their season and the upcoming pack test. I was so impressed with all the hard work these crews were already putting in! 
Week two started with a chainsaw classroom day, and then were taken to a cedar glade on the Chattanooga & Chickamauga National Military Park for hands on chainsaw training!
Oh my gosh, I forgot how sore forearms get after lugging around a chainsaw for 6 hours. I also forgot how intimidating it is to get back into felling trees. I had been previously certified but that felt like a LONG time ago when I was looking around for trees to cut down in the glade. I was very nervous while being observed with my chainsaw but ultimately I got my S212 certification! Although, I may stick to more bucking than felling if I get the opportunity to run a chainsaw with a crew down the line on one of my visits.
The last week of training was especially exciting to me because I have never learned anything about wildland firefighting. We had four days of classroom instruction followed by a work day with some really knowledgeable fire professionals. Shout out to Travis Neppl and Greg Salansky from the National Park Service! We learned about fire patterns, how weather affects fire, how to deploy fire shelters, digging fireline, and different watch out scenarios for fire crews. They made it so interesting each day and even brought us candy to enjoy during our classes. Thank you, Travis and Greg!
The three weeks of training and interacting with the new crews allowed me some time to reflect. As I was sitting in the mud on a lunch break during chainsaw training, I scanned the new members faces as they were cracking jokes with their crews. They looked a little intimidated but mostly there was an excitement there that made me think back on my days working on a crew. I was reminded of how I felt when I was learning all these new skills for the first time. When I was first going out on a limb and trying something completely out of my comfort zone.
I have found that because I am a few years removed from my corps experiences and am now working remotely at a desk, it’s easy to forget the “why” of my job. Why do I feel such a strong pull to work in a conservation field? Why do I feel really inspired by the work of corps programs around the country? Why do I love the smell of campfire on my flannels so much?
I thought back to the day I flew to join California Conservation Corps and wandered around the Sacramento airport looking for another human with a giant backpack. They told us that we shouldn’t bring a cell phone and that “we’d see people” who were going to the same place. I was so nervous! What was I doing there??
I remembered my first night camping and my sleeping pad deflated and I was embarrassed and didn’t know how to fix it so I just slept on top of a pile of sticks. I remembered working on one portion of a trail in Yosemite and struggling on the hike, only to return two months later and climb it with ease. I remember that feeling of accomplishment after completing a rock staircase that I had been working on for almost 6 weeks straight.
I thought of all my fellow co-leaders at Montana Conservation Corps who became such close friends and eventually became roommates after our season ended. I thought about project partners, crew pranks, favorite hitches, weirdest hitches (had we really just cleaned out a man’s house after he died because he left it to the BLM?? And do I now own that dead man’s butcher block??), and one particularly doomed hitch with two trips to the hospital and a flash flood. I couldn’t stop thinking about all these great, silly, often challenging experiences I had when I was working with a conservation corps. They were some of the hardest yet most rewarding times of my life.
These memories brought me back to my “why?” of wanting to work for Conservation Legacy.
I’ve found it’s because when I’ve been involved in conservation work, no matter at what level, I feel like it brings out the best in me. I enjoy the mental and physical challenges that corps work often demands. It’s where I feel the most proud of what I do—hopefully leaving my community a little better than I found it. I am inspired by all the corps work done across the country and feel so excited for those interns and crew members experiencing this line of work for the first time. I am so grateful to be one small part of a network of conservation organizations that do incredible projects across the country.
So as I ease back into my office job, I feel rejuvenated and refreshed (and red carded😊) . I am excited to tell the stories of all the crew members who are just starting out, intimidated and excited. Just like I once was. So a big thank you goes to Conservation Legacy and particularly the communications team. Thank you for letting me take time away from my “normal” job duties to go out, meet the new corps members, feel inspired and remember my “why” of working for a non-profit like Conservation Legacy.
And to all the interns and crews starting out this 2023, good luck and I hope to see you out there.