Welcome to the Lake Tahoe Residential Center.

The California Conservation Corps (CCC) Lake Tahoe Center is a residential facility located in Meyers, a small town 2 miles West of Lake Tahoe.

The CCC has been a presence in the Lake Tahoe Basin since 1987. This location has been in operation for the past 1 ½ years.

The Tahoe Center can be contacted as follows:
530 577-0850 Office
530 577-0857 FAX

1949 Apache Ave
Meyers, CA 96150

The Center

The Tahoe Center is located next door to Tahoe Paradise Golf Course and immediately behind Lira’s Supermarket. Center facilities include residential space for 84 corpsmembers, dining hall, 2 recreation lounges, classrooms, computer lab and administrative offices. The Center is planning for expansion construction, which will result in a new dining hall, gymnasium, classrooms, new corpsmember dormitory and Corporation Yard.

Corpsmembers enrolled at the Tahoe Center are able to take advantage of the Muir Charter School on site, outstanding work/training projects involving chain saws, tree climbing, hazardous fuels reduction and trail building/maintenance, on/off site counseling services and enrollment in the Lake Tahoe Community College. All of the above activity is located in the Lake Tahoe Basin, one of the most spectacular areas in the world.

Work Projects/Partnerships

As with all CCC programming, the Tahoe Center does respond to natural disasters with emergency response crews. These emergency responses can include fire, flood, earthquake or hazardous materials spills.

The Tahoe Center is actively involved with resources projects both inside and outside the Lake Tahoe Basin. These projects include hazardous fuels reduction in a partnership with the Lake Tahoe Conservancy and the California Department of Forestry, trails construction and maintenance in a partnership with the California Department of Parks and Recreation, revegetation working with the California Department of Transportation and park development/construction working in partnership with El Dorado County. All of these resources projects are conducted within the spectacular vistas of Lake Tahoe and surrounding mountains.

Education and Training

The Lake Tahoe Center works in partnership with the John Muir Charter School, located on site, to provide educational opportunities for corpsmembers. In addition, many corpsmembers enroll in the Lake Tahoe Community College, which is located a short distance from the Center. The Tahoe Center provides transportation for corpsmembers attending the community college.

In addition to high school diploma and college classes, Tahoe Center corpsmembers participate in a myriad of educational programming. This programming includes:

• Outdoor Leadership: This class is offered through the Lake Tahoe Community College and provides leadership training conducted in wilderness areas. Participants attend 4 evening classes and then embark on a 4 day trek into the wilderness. This field experience varies depending on the season to include white water rafting, snow boarding, rock climbing or snow shoeing.
• Conservation Awareness: This also is a wilderness based course, which provides an awareness of conservation practices in the Lake Tahoe Basin.
• Career Development: Every corpsmember is enrolled in this class, which provides career awareness/preparation instruction to include resume development and practice interviews.
• CPR/First Aid Certification: Every corpsmember receives certification in CPR/First Aid during their initial 2 weeks at the Center.

Special Programs

The Tahoe Center has forged an effective partnership with the California Department of Forestry and the Workforce Investment Act-CA Dept of Employment and Development. Through this partnership corpsmembers are enrolled in an accelerated training program which provides certification in Wildland Firefighter Training (Type II), Chain Saw, Tree Climbing/Aerial Rescue and Mechanical Chipper. These certifications, available within 3 months of enrollment, create outstanding employment opportunities after corpsmembers graduate from the CCC.

The Tahoe Center is proud to support and enroll corpsmembers in the CCC’s Backcountry Trails Program. This program, coordinated by the Fortuna CCC Center, provides incredible learning and development opportunities in remote wilderness areas throughout California.

The Tahoe Baikal Institute (TBI) has been a partner of the Tahoe Center for the past 15 years. Through this partnership with TBI, corpsmembers are provided the opportunity to study and live with environmentalists from around the world while camping at the Mountain Lake Research Center in Lake Tahoe. After this 5 week experience, all TBI participants travel to Russia for 6 weeks of living and learning at Lake Baikal in Siberia.

What to Expect When You Arrive at the Tahoe Center

The Tahoe Center runs COMET training once monthly for newly arrived trainees. COMET is an acronym for Corpsmember Orientation, Motivation, Education and Training. The COMET program provides for a proving ground to determine if trainees have the skills and positive attitude to successful in the CCC. The Tahoe Center COMET is 10 days in duration and trainees are unpaid for the initial 7 days. All aspects of the CCC are discussed during COMET to include: policies and procedures, discipline system, safety, introduction to tools, physical training, social skills, substance abuse information, First Aid/CPR certification, and individual goal setting.

To complete COMET and be employed, trainees must successfully pass a physical examination and drug test administered by a local physician.

A typical day at the Tahoe Center would be as follows:

• Wake up by 6:00 AM
• Shower and clean room and common areas by 6:45 AM
• Report in uniform to Dining Hall for breakfast between 6:45 and 7:10 AM
• Make your lunch by 7:15 AM
• Report for Roll Call at 8:00 AM
• Physical training from 8:15 – 8:45 AM
• Roll with your crew to resources project in Crew Carrying Vehicle (CCV) by 8:45 AM
• Participate in Tailgate Safety Session at (9:15 AM)
• Report back to the Center with crew at 4:15 PM
• Change into personal clothing and report for dinner at 4:45 PM
• Attend Muir Charter School from 6:00 PM – 9:00 PM, if in need of High School Diploma
• Participate in Career Preparation classes at Center from 6:00 – 9:00 PM
• Participate, if scheduled, in individual/group counseling sessions
• Attend Lake Tahoe Community College or participate in recreation programming
• Quiet Time at 10:00 PM and lights out at 11:00 PM

Corpsmembers are free to enjoy their free time on weekend s and holidays. Typically one class per month on a Saturday is mandatory for all corpsmembers to include: Career Development, Career Preparation, Conservation Awareness and Community Service.

Resource Work Projects

All corpsmembers at the Tahoe Center are afforded the opportunity to work hard in an outdoor environment regardless of the weather. In the Tahoe Basin, this means our corpsmembers and staff are working in alpine winter conditions as well as incredible Spring-Summer-Fall weather. All corpsmembers are provided clothing appropriate for the weather to include Gore Tex foul weather gear with fleece liners and insulated “pac” boots.

Corpsmembers are assigned to crews of 10-15 with a Conservationist I Civil Service staff person as a supervisor. These “grade” crews work in partnership with local state and federal agencies on conservation resource related projects. These projects include: campground restoration, trail construction/maintenance, revegetation, hazardous fuels reduction and park development/construction. The majority of this work is conducted within 45 minutes of the Tahoe Center. Occasionally crews will be asked to “spike” away from the Center. A spike project involves setting up a tent camp inclusive of kitchen facilities and working in a remote location.

Community Service

Community Service is one of the cornerstones of the CCC. Every corpsmember is required to complete a minimum number of hours spent in community service to graduate. As such, the Tahoe Center is active in the community utilizing the Corpsmember Advisory Board (CAB) as the primary liaison with the Tahoe Basin. The CAB serves as a de facto Student Government Program and schedules multiple community service opportunities monthly.