A van-load of ten volunteers will be pulling into Plymouth County next month to help restore the savannah at Five Ridge Prairie and build a fence for bison.

County conservation director Dennis Sohl said the AmeriCorps group is coming this September thanks to a successful application from four area conservation groups: Plymouth County Conservation, the Nature Conservancy in Plymouth County, Harrison County Conservation Board and Pottawattamie County Conservation Board.

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The Americorps volunteers, age 17 or older, will split their time among the different organizations, spending two weeks with each.

For Plymouth County Conservation, the crew will be in for some heavy-duty work: clearing volunteer trees and brush in the savannah using chainsaws and brush cutters. But Sohl said they'd be fine.

"Most of their time has been so far in Hurricane Katrina cleanup," he said. "We'll have to do some initial training with them, and after that it's just checking in on them once a day."

The area at Five Ridge Prairie where the team will be working is an area Plymouth County Conservation did a controlled burn on, Sohl said. After the brush is cleared, they will use regular fires to help keep out invading species and keep the native ones going strong.

For the Nature Conservancy, the crew will be building a fence, a bison fence.

"It's going to be a six-foot-tall high-tinsel electric wire fence," said Scott Moats of the Nature Conservancy. "The crew will be digging a lot of fence post holes, putting up the wooden posts, stringing fence."

They are preparing for 30-50 bison moving back onto the preserve, thanks in part to a donation from Gregg Oden and Lola Lopes of Iowa City. The re-release date will be in the fall of 2008, Moats said. The goal is eventually to bring in up to 250 of the native animals.

Ultimately, the fence will stretch 11 miles around, plus some corral areas for the bison.

"We'll get as far as we can with this group," Moats said. "It will definitely be a big boost for us, since right now we only have two people on the preserve. This is a great opportunity for us."

Sohl of Plymouth County Conservation explained that because of the way Americorps operates, they can't give them cash for their work.

"Our cost for this is we've got to provide them with hand tools, which we have, and to supplement their food," Sohl said.

The volunteers, he said, are allocated about $4.90 per person per day for food.

"Having ten people work for us for two weeks, I thought it was well worth taking them out to dinner one night." he said.

He said they plan to supplement the volunteers' meals a little bit during the days as well.

The crew will be staying in a bunkhouse usually used to house season fire crews and summer interns at the Conservancy while they are in Plymouth County.

On top of that, the Nature Conservancy is going to throw in a little fire training for the group, what Moats describes as "basic wild land fire fighting skills."

"Most people in the conservation field are excited about fire and the positive effects it can have for the environment," he said. "Plymouth County is just one stop the group has this fall. Maybe by the time they get to Pottawattamie County they'll have the opportunity to be involved in a controlled burn."

Both Plymouth County organizations will be looking out for the safety of the volunteers.

At the Conservancy, Moats said they'll give them the typical briefing about the terrain and wildlife, including snakes, bees and other insects.

"The chance of us running across any rattlesnakes is pretty remote with the number of people and the kind of work we'll be doing," he said.

At Five Ridge Prairie, Sohl is also taking precautionary measures.

"In the event there's a major chainsaw accident, I'm meeting with somebody from Mercy Air Care, and we're going to set up a heli-spot out there for Mercy Air Care to land right close to the work site," Sohl said. "Out there, it's a long time before any medical care arrives."

Sohl felt that AmeriCorps took notice of their application because several organizations pooled their requests together and focused on the Loess Hills.

"It was approved because it was a partnership arrangement," Sohl said. "Since we're covering a landform region and partnering with multiple agencies we were approved for this year."

It was Sohl, Moats said, who took the lead on this project.

AmeriCorps is a volunteer service organization that sends out 50,000 Americans 17-years-old and older to work with communities to meet their education, environment, public safety, homeland security and other needs through intensive service projects.

"This is a year-round program and we're just one of the work sites that they're going to," Sohl said. "They come in a van from where ever they're coming from."

After a year of service, AmeriCorps volunteers can receive an educational award of $4,725 to go toward college costs or eligible student loans. They also receive about $9,000 for living expenses during their 10 or 12 months of service with the organization.

Sohl said he doesn't know whether Plymouth County will see more AmeriCorps crews returning in the future, but he's thankful they are coming this fall.

"It's really a good deal for us," he said.