Conservation camps engage the next generation of leaders

By Cindy Ross

10/13/2009

Tell me, I forget
Show me, I remember
Involve me, and I understand
- Anonymous

When fifteen-year-old Sierra Gladfelter attended her county's youth conservation camp, she felt like an outcast. She wasn't into shooting black powder rifles like most of the kids, for the powerful recoil scared her. She also felt shy in the large group. She did love absorbing the knowledge she was fed in the 5-day camp, documenting everything in her journal.

She wanted to remember everything because she personally cared about every fish, invertebrate, and fern that she discovered. She was the only camper who recorded anything, which resulted in getting her the highest score on the surprise test the campers received at the week's end. She won a full scholarship to attend the two-week Pennsylvania Conservation Camp at University Park the next summer.

Only a few experiences in a young person's life impact them to the point where they are propelled down a particular path and are forever changed. Schuylkill County's Norm Thornberg Conservation Camp was one for Sierra.

Every state in the Chesapeake region offers these camps for youths. They are often administered by conservation districts and sometimes sponsored by sportsmen's clubs. This wonderful gift to our youth and our planet has been going on for more than thirty years.

The ultimate goal of these camps is to introduce students to conservation and environmental careers, and to encourage them to pursue their interests. They might learn how to track wildlife, identify native plants, or tie a fly. From stream sampling of fish and aquatic life, to forestry skills, daily activities are planned to get students out in the field to meet and observe environmental professionals.

There are many camps. The Virginia Association of Soil & Water Conservation offers a weeklong conservation camp, as does the Chesapeake Bay Environmental Center in Grasonville, Md. The University of Maryland's Center for Environmental Science's Horn Point facility offers several summer programs. The Pennsylvania Department of Conservation & Natural Resources (DCNR) hosts the Environmental Careers Outdoors program. The Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited conducts a Rivers Conservation & Fly Fishing Youth Camp to educate students in the importance of coldwater conservation and how it relates to everyday living. The Pennsylvania Institute for Conservation Learning conducts Wildlife Leadership Adventures for teens interested in wildlife and the outdoors.

The best way to find a camp is to search on-line and to contact your local conservation district and local sportsman's clubs. The camps are usually targeted to teens age 14 to 18, and fall is the time to research and apply for next summer.

Professionals in the field teach many of the hands-on classes and learning is the kind that lasts...experiential learning. Many instructors donate their time, equipment, and expertise to provide this experience.

Sometimes the camps offer opportunities for attendees to seek internships and mentoring and job shadowing positions, as well as returning as camp leaders. Scholarships and sponsorships are often available.

"When students leave these camps they have keen awareness of the outdoor world and the many careers found there," said Michael DiBerdinis, who until recently led the DCNR. "After spending a day with attendees last summer, I know they already have the interest and the intelligence to become tomorrow's stewards of the natural world."

The level beyond local camps is the state camp. In Pennsylvania it is the Conservation Leadership School. This is where Sierra blossomed. She learned all sorts of things about fire fighting, canoeing, forestry management, wildlife, etc. She learned to analyze her hometown drinking water, balance deer population, behind- the-scenes recycling, and realized what exactly a "green" building is.

Up until that point, Sierra was learning for her own personal interests, her own personal career goals. But she saw the tremendous energy a group of like-minded individuals can have on one another. If they bonded, cared for one another, it didn't matter if they were cleaning up a disgusting tire dump; they could have fun and make a positive difference.

Sierra went on to create the Schuylkill County Student Conservation Club. Within two years, these teens conducted more than 20 projects including tree plantings, river clean-ups, and helping biologists monitor elk calving. Her leadership and the groups' extensive work enabled Sierra to earn two $10,000 private scholarships that sent her to Temple University. There she created the Temple Outdoor Club, and is involved in creating a Sustainable Living Forum.

Sierra, like other youths who have attended the conservation camps, has continually built on her first camp experience. The ripples have moved into all aspects of her life and influenced her community and her occupation, and have injected her with passion to make the world a better place. That is the highest goal of any youth conservation camp: to create stewards.