Collbran Job Corps To Undergo Major Changes

The U.S. Forest Service has announced changes to the Collbran Job Corps Center.

The 46 employees at the Collbran Job Corps Civilian Conservation Center could be losing their jobs at an as yet undetermined date as a result of the privatization of the center.

For more than 50 years the Colbran center has been involved in training and helping find work for countless numbers of youth in Western Colorado and is part of a number of centers either closing or privatizing their ownership and management. The U.S. Department of Labor says this will allow them to put more resources into better performing centers and help more young people.

The center in Colbran is the only one in Colorado and the staff has been told they can either interview for a position at the center with whoever takes it over or retire.

Lawmakers are unhappy with the decision as in many cases recently, those in the centers have helped the Forest Service fight wildfires.

Nationally, the centers employ 1,100 people across 16 states.