It's a labor of love, a labor of interest, and for eight University of Wyoming students; it's labor.

Armed with shovels, picks, post-hole diggers, enough camping gear for 10 days and their hands, one of two Wyoming Conservation Corps crews broke ground Monday on Coal Mountain Road.

The goal for this 10-day project is to clear garbage from four sites along the road, create parking lots and install eight-foot posts.

This is only the second project for the Corps, which was created by the Legislature last year.

Corps director Nicholas Agopian described the WCC as a "lower cost alternative that not only gets the project done but introduces students to that issue."

Agopian said he was inspired to found the group after working in Montana's Conservation Corps.

"I walked away with two things from that experience, an understanding of what it means to participate in a group toward a goal, basically how to play well with others, and how important it is to be involved in your community, and participate."

This week the Corps is trying to convert a three-mile stretch of land west of town from a shooting range and dumping site to a sustainable recreational area.

"What we're trying to do here is keep people from dumping their garbage," State Land Management Representative Michael Henn said, surveying an area full of gun shells, trash, a broken T.V. and a computer monitor once used for target practice. "And if they do dump it, have them dump it somewhere else."

A crew of six with two designated leaders drove up from Laramie Monday, set up camp and started working. The state had 360 post-holes drilled around several parking lots, for a fence that will prevent people from, "off roading, 4-wheeling and mud-bogging in non-designated areas," Henn said.

"These crews help our office a ton," Henn said. "If it wasn't for these guys we would've had to contract this out to someone."

Henn is not the only one excited about young able-bodied students helping.

Crew leader and UW graduate Theresa McGinty said she loves it -- the students' work hard and in return learn information about a variety of state and private agencies.

Holding up her arms and looking around, she said, "This is my office. It's work and sanity to me. Sanity because I am outside and work because it tuckers me out at the end of the day."

Agopian's initial WCC proposal to the Wyoming State Legislature was rejected, but instead of giving up hope, he said he campaigned harder for the bill and eventually garnered support from a plethora of state and private agencies.

Backed by UW, Agopian's idea passed and was given a three-year, $312,000 appropriation. According to a UW news release, an additional $15,000 came from the Wyoming Community Foundation and $30,000 from ServeWyoming, the state's Americorps commission.

State agencies identify needs the WCC can fill, the logistics are hammered out and a team is assigned to the project.

Agopian said his vision for the coalition is to provide an opportunity for UW students and young adults to learn about issues facing Wyoming lands and experience first-hand both the problems and solutions.

Waiting to begin work and wearing a crew-issued yellow hard hat, mechanical engineering sophomore Chris Lawrsen said this is a different type of learning.

"I've been in the state about three weeks and each week we learn new information and new skills," Lawrsen said. "And it's got good benefits. Seeing the results is really satisfying."

The team's first project was outside of Newcastle conducting a noxious weed survey and was dually sponsored by the Bureau of Land Management and Canadian oil corporation RockWell Petroleum.

"This project was unique because it allowed us to introduce [the students] to natural resource issues," Agopian said, explaining many of WCC's projects will involve trail building and land restoration.

The WCC will talk with the Joint Minerals Committee at their interim meeting today, introducing the crews and updating the committee on the WCC's progress since March.

This year, 16 students will complete roughly 8,000 hours working on projects. That number will increase to 24 participants with 16,000 hours next year and 64 participants with 32,000 hours in 2009.

(http://www.jacksonholestartrib.com/articles/2007/06/12/news/casper/fef79025d244a2cf872572f70081e0c7.txt)