From a trail crew to Landforce.

How Landforce grew

1. 01

   Where it started

   A trail crew on a Mount Washington hillside.

   The Mount Washington Community Development Corporation created the Emerald Trail Corps with partners including the A. Philip Randolph Institute, GTECH Strategies and the Student Conservation Association. The goal was to build Emerald View Park and its trails by training and employing people from the community.

   Over five seasons, more than 40 corps members built, maintained and restored more than 10 miles of trail and greenway. Soon there was demand for the same work well beyond Mount Washington.

2. 02

   Learning from other cities

   Green space as a path to good jobs.

   With support from the Hillman Foundation, the Mount Washington CDC, GTECH Strategies, the Pittsburgh Parks Conservancy, UrbanKind and the Allegheny Land Trust studied more than 25 programs in 15 cities that use green space to change lives and create jobs.

   The team visited four: the Seattle Conservation Corps, the San Francisco Conservation Corps, The Greening of Detroit and Oakland Civicorps. The research confirmed the need to grow, and shaped the model.

3. 03

   Becoming Landforce

   A regional employment social enterprise.

   The Emerald Trail Corps restructured to work across Allegheny County, first under the working name Pittsburgh Conservation Corps and then as Landforce. Pittsburgh Conservation Corps is still our registered nonprofit name.

   Land Stewardship became the work Landforce is best known for, with crews restoring habitat, building trails, caring for trees and keeping green infrastructure working for partners across the county.

4. 04

   A second social enterprise

   The Mill opens.

   In October 2025, Landforce opened The Mill, a 10,000-square-foot facility in Pittsburgh’s East End. There, Responsible Wood Production gives fallen urban trees a second life as kiln-dried lumber, and creates more paid training and employment.