Buoyed by the success of its inaugural class, the Chesapeake Conservation Corps is growing.

The environmental career and leadership training program created last year by the General Assembly has selected 21 young adults for its second class - up from 16 last year, the Chesapeake Bay Trust announced today.

The trust oversees the program, under which volunteers work on a variety of environnmental initiaitives, including energy-efficiency campaigns, tree planting, stream cleanup and job training. Volunteers are assigned to nonprofit groups and government agencies.

"In today's challenging economic times, it is important that we invest in our young people and provide them with the skills and training necessary for jobs that create a smarter, greener future for Maryland," Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller, the corps' chief legislative sponsor, said in a statement. The program is underwritten by the state and the Bay Trust, with additional support from Constellation Energy.

Four of last year's initial class of 16 corps members, pictured above, wound up being hired by the groups they worked with over the past year - which organizers see as a sign of the program's strength. Of this year's group, four will work in Baltimore city, five in Anne Arundel County and one in Howard County.

Applications were solicited from young people ages 18 to 25. Corps members receive a stipend and have the opportunity to gain environmental careeer certificates from Maryland's community colleges. For more info, go here.

(2010 Baltimore Sun photo by Amy Davis)