Guest Blog: Meet the LCCC Strike Team
by The Larimer County Conservation Corps Strike Team
What is the Strike Team?
Strike Team is a Larimer County Conservation Corps (LCCC) forestry crew created as the “Bondo” for the Red Feather Lakes Area Wildfire Defense Project currently being implemented in four communities within Larimer County. These communities include Glacier View Meadows, Crystal Lakes, Cherokee Meadows, and the Poudre Valley Fire Protection District. The Strike Team’s mission is to help these communities continue to be more fire-resilient through mitigation, fuels reduction, helping create community firewood bank systems, and assisting in HIZ (Home Ignition Zone) assessments. The Strike Team will help enhance the fire resiliency of communities within Northern Colorado, as well as play an important role in protecting the surrounding communities.
Who are we?
The Strike Team is part of the Larimer County Conservation Corps. Since 1993, LCCC has operated within the Larimer County Office of Workforce and Development, providing young adults with hands-on skills in natural resources while also contributing to the conservation goals of Northern Colorado. From November 2025 to May 2026, CPRW and Larimer County will pilot the Strike Team, a crew of five young professionals dedicated to their community and stewardship.
Meet The Crew
Led by Kea Klug, who is homegrown in Fort Collins, CO (Go Rams), and has dedicated herself to the protection and preservation of the outdoors for as long as she can remember. Starting through Mile High Youth Corps (MHYC) in 2021, she has worked her way through the seasons (seven of them to be exact), finishing her most recent season as a Crew Lead on the LCCC Windy Gap Forestry Crew.
Will Nguyen is from North Carolina. He has a variety of experience in outdoor conservation work with a mix of forestry saw experience, trail work, and prescribed burns. Will was a part of the 2025 Button Rock Crew for LCCC, doing fire mitigation saw work on the Ralph Price Reservoir.
Lauren Mitros grew up in Northern Virginia. She just started working in the field of forestry last summer, where she joined Will on the Button Rock Crew. She is excited to be making an impact in the local community and is eager to get her hands dirty.
Next on the team is Mack Lavin, coming all the way from Baltimore, MD! He found his passion for conservation work after spending a year working with different nonprofits across the United States. LCCC brought him to Fort Collins, working on the 2025 Windy Gap Crew. He is excited to continue this work throughout the winter season!
Vivian Waller is a recent graduate from CSU, graduating with Fish, Wildlife, and Conservation Biology. From Chicago, she found her way to Colorado for school, and after finishing, she joined the LCCC Button Rock Forestry Crew. Her excitement to get boots on the ground and stay out in the wonderful forests of Colorado led her to the Strike Team efforts.