Larch Corrections Center (LCC)
| Program | Program Partners (partner with DOC, Evergreen, or both) | Recent highlights – updated December 2020 |
| Roots of Success, environmental course | Roots of Success | Current instructors releasing soon. Primary instructors will be releasing soon. SCCC has identified two potential instructors who may be interested in transferring to LCC to teach there. This process stalled due to COVID-19 but will revisit if and when it is safe to do so. Prior to program suspension, 25 students graduated from the program. |
| Western pond turtles care | Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife, Oregon Zoo | 19 turtles care for in 2019-2020 |
| Beekeeping | Clark County Beekeeping Association, Washington State Beekeepers Association | 5 hives, 6 beginner beekeeper certificates awarded; program temporarily suspended due to COVID-19 |
| Plantain, food source for Taylor’s checkerspot butterflies | Oregon Zoo | Technicians maintain 11 garden beds and harvest leaves to feed butterfly larvae raised at the OR zoo. |
| House plants | Only prison where incarcerated individuals may have houseplants in their rooms: nearly 300 for 480 residents! | |
| Bird feeders | Feeders throughout the facility; re-homing baby birds that fall from nests | |
| Wood craft donations | Program created and donated 18 jewelry boxes | |
| Larch Dog Adoption Program | Humane Society for Southwest WA | 33 dogs were trained, and 30 dogs and 6 puppies were adopted by Humane Society for Southwest WA and rescue partners |
| Larch Cat Adoption Program | West Columbia Gorge Humane Society, Humane Society for Southwest WA | Temporarily suspended due to COVID-19 |
| Waste reduction | Education posters throughout the facility, and recycle bins everywhere; limited the use of plastic trash can liners | |
| Waste sorting & recycling | Waste Connections, Paper People, Calbag Metals | Waste sorted at every living unit; sent 7.5 tons of steel to Cal Bag Metals and 15 tons of cardboard to Paper People |
| Large-scale composting | First WA prison to have large-scale composting; diverted 19 tons of food waste yielding approximately 6 tons of compost. | |
| Waste Water Treatment | DOE | Incarcerated technicians can achieve Dept of Ecology certifications; portion of treated water reclaimed (non-potable), ~793,000 gal/month |
| Forestry | DNR, USFS, Dept of Ecology | Crews planted ~541,000 trees across 1,500 acres over the course of 241 crew days. Crews were also dispatched to 28 fires, preparing and serving 15,726 meals, for a total of 19,042 hours of work. 63 crew members have been certified as Firefighter 2. Other services include forest fuel reduction, litter clean-up, and trail and campground maintenance |
| Community work | Multiple entities | Services include farming, reforestation, wood-cutting, brush and debris clearing, general landscaping, processing vegetables at food pantry, noxious weed removal, salmon habitat restoration, watershed improvement, development of parks and recreational areas, and other work to conserve natural resources. |
Articles about LCC
2018
2017
New Turtles and New Technicians!
2016
The Honey Bees are a Buzzin’ at Larch Corrections Center
Larch Corrections Center – An Upcoming Beekeeper’s Paradise
Larch Corrections Center – Ricky Osborne Photo Gallery
Larch’s First Turtle Release: A Technician’s Response
Turtles and Plantain at Larch Corrections Center
Roots of Success Graduation Speech – Larch Corrections Center
2014
House plants: A new way to bring nature inside at Larch Corrections Center