Conservation Camp Program News Today

Ex-Las Vegas Raider Henry Ruggs is serving a sentence for vehicular manslaughter at a Nevada prison camp, where inmates work as ranch hands and sleep in dorms.

When Benjamin Fowler was serving his second 10-year prison term, he didn’t see a clear path forward to a new life after his time was up. Now, in a few weeks, he will start a new job as a firefighter for the Forest Service in Sonoma County. In many ways, he is the face of a new programs success and the impact AB2147 has on the lives of the formerly incarcerated.

The first-of-its-kind program helps formerly incarcerated firefighters land jobs in the industry.

'We’re really learning more every day about how they create good, quality TV, and we’re trying to teach them a little bit more about the fire service.'

CAL FIRE’s decades-old reliance on prison labor is coming to an end. The state should invest in firefighting jobs.

The initiative, which finds prisoners working as first responders and rescuers, dates back to the 1940s