Location and History

The Napa Center is a non-residential California Conservation Corps program located on the grounds of the Napa State Hospital in the City of Napa. Napa, gateway to the Napa Valley with its rich agricultural heritage and renown beauty is a magnet for tourists from around the world. The Napa Center has been closely tied to the Napa Native Plant Nursery throughout its history. Opened in 1978, the nursery propagated several million native plants for projects throughout the State of California.

Organization and Projects

The Napa Center employs three 15 person crews that work on resource conservation projects throughout the San Francisco Bay area. Two of the crews work out of the Napa Center and one crew works out of Treasure Island (in the San Francisco Bay). The Treasure Island crew is a collaborative program with the Treasure Island Job Corps Center. The Napa Office has also organized a Youth Program for local high school youth each summer.

Working throughout Napa, Sonoma, Solano, Marin, Contra Costa, Alameda and San Mateo Counties, the Napa Center has a long, storied history of conservation work. From environmental enhancement and restoration projects to trail construction, fire fuel reduction and landscape projects, the Center’s crews have worked closely with local Cities, Counties, State, Federal and non-profit agencies.

Educational Opportunities

The Napa Conservationist staff are credentialed instructors in Natural Resources Technology. Project sites double as classrooms in which corpsmembers earn ROP certificates in Natural Resource Technology. Napa Center corpsmembers who are in need of their high school diploma attend classes through the Muir Charter School and work towards achieving their diploma or GED. Those members with high school diplomas are encouraged to take classes at the Napa Community College, Napa County Office of Education and Napa Adult School. Treasure Island members work for their diploma through the Job Corps collaborative. All corpsmembers have the opportunity to earn a $2000 CCC scholarship and a $2500 or a $4500 NASCC scholarship. An internship program with Cal Trans has recently been established offering job opportunities with that agency.