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Cuts to the federal volunteer program AmeriCorps are already affecting projects in Wisconsin, with one conservation agency losing more than half of its staffers this year.
Earlier this month, the Trump administration effectively gutted the 30-year-old federal agency AmeriCorps after placing 85% of its staff on administrative leave and terminating nearly $400 million in federal contracts for AmeriCorps programs.
The Trump administration said cuts were made because of $40 million of improper payments in 2024.
AmeriCorps dispatched about 200,000 Americans to projects nationwide last year, according to a release from the volunteer agency.
Eric Robertson is director of Wisconsin Conservation Corps, a nonprofit agency that focuses on environmental restoration projects across Wisconsin and the upper Midwest. The organization partners with state parks around Wisconsin and coordinates volunteers for projects ranging from constructing trails to environmental restoration efforts with the National Park Service.
Robertson told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” that support from AmeriCorps helps make up nearly 25% of his agency’s funding.
“We currently have a model that needs to be adjusted very quickly (so) that we can reduce our overhead costs, reduce our direct expenses while trying to maintain revenue and then rely on community support to get us through this,” Robertson said.
Wisconsin is among nearly two dozen states that are suing the Trump administration over the cuts to the federal volunteer agency.
Cuts to AmeriCorps funding are affecting a variety of programs throughout Wisconsin. Serve Wisconsin Executive Director Jeanne Duffy told WPR that her organization receives about $14 million of federal funding annually. AmeriCorps volunteers contribute to programs in Wisconsin ranging from education and youth programs to public health and disaster response programs.
Duffy said AmeriCorps members in the Wisconsin Conservation Corps and the Green Bay Conservation Corps improved more than 570 acres of public land and around 170 miles of trails and rivers during the 2023-24 program year.
“The absence of AmeriCorps would hinder progress in preserving and improving Wisconsin’s natural resources for public enjoyment and conservation,” Duffy said.
Robertson said his organization is focused on pivoting operations and funding sources to meet the needs of current projects.
“Some of these projects have been in development for over a year, and some of these members who would have been joining us have committed to us six to nine months ago,” Robertson said. “We’re still trying to make sure that we can adjust these models, so that we can come out and say that the Wisconsin Conservation Corps can operate without these funds.”
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