McKean County Conservation District - Education
One of the primary commitments of the District is provide continuing environmental education to the residents of McKean County. Whether it be to school groups, civic groups, other government agencies, or just interested citizens, it is our goal as the leader on the front lines of environmental and conservation issues to provide accurate and the most comprehensive information. We do this by pooling our resources. With the help of professionals from the Department of Conservation of Natural Resources, Bureau of Forestry, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission, the Pennsylvania Game Commission, the Department of Environmental Protection, Penn State Cooperative Extension and many other groups dedicated to the same goal, we seek to inform citizens. Our hope is to create a public pride for the natural resources around us, and in doing so promote good conservation practices.
Outdoor Adventure Field Day
The Outdoor Adventure Field Day was held on June 16, 2007 at Hamlin Lake Park in Smethport, Pennsylvania from 9:00am to 2pm. The event put together by Ray Bierbower of Penn State Extension, educated youth and families on what they can do in the outdoors for recreation, education, and careers in the future. Displays, demonstrations, and programs were held by professionals in various fields to show people what the outdoors has to offer them. The demonstrations and programs that were offered during the field day were: archery, birds of prey, canoeing and kayaking, dog obedience, fly fishing, forestry, geocaching, how to camp and backpack, introduction to fishing, navigation, outdoor cooking, PA WoodMobile, water quality monitoring, WoodMizer sawmill, and many hands on environmental projects and games.
One of the most popular programs was the canoeing and kayaking which was run by Carol Riedmiller from the McKean County Conservation District. She was putting participants in and out of the water all afternoon. Many youth went out more than once. Another presenter from the McKean County Conservation District was Heather McKean who did a great job teaching participants about water quality monitoring and the West Nile Virus Program. She had collected aquatic life from streams with different water quality to show how important water quality is to the aquatic life. The favorite aquatic life was the crawfish and the turtles.
Another popular program was the Birds of Prey put on by Shavers Creek. The program allowed for the participates to see up close live birds of prey and learn about them. Shavers Creek presenters did a great job answering any questioned the audience asked.
WATCH FOR INFORMATION ON THE 2008 EVENT!
Heather McKean, Watershed Specialist, Water Quality Monitoring
Carol Riedmiller, Resource Conservation Technician, Canoeing & Kayaking
Birds of Prey – Shavers Creek Environmental Center
Envirothon
Envirothon 2007
The Envirothon is a program designed to cultivate a desire to learn more about our natural environment through competitive events. For over 20 years, high schools in Pennsylvania have been recognizing the value of the Envirothon experience. Starting at the local level, students prepare for the Envirothon competition by researching, studying and familiarizing themselves with five main topic areas including; soils, forestry, wildlife, aquatics and a current event that changes from year to year. Many students meet through out the year to study these topics and then compete at a local competition. Top scoring teams from each county then move on to the state Envirothon competition where they go up against the top teams from each county in the state. The team that finishes in the top position at states, continues on to the Canon International Envirothon.
The goal of the Envirothon is not only to teach environmental facts and realities, but also to instill an understanding of the ecological and community factors that are involved in environmental decisions and actions. With society facing a number of pressing environmental management issues in areas such as water quality, ecosystems, solid waste and land use, it’s important to show tomorrow’s leaders the positive and negative effects that individual actions have on the natural environment. Understanding the difference between renewable and nonrenewable resources, realizing environmental interactions and interdependencies, and knowing where to turn for facts concerning environmental matters are all part of the Envirothon experience. Thousands of students have met the challenge and are becoming more environmentally aware, action-oriented adults.
The Conservation District staff provides assistance to the Envirothon teams through educational programs dealing with the five core subject areas. Staff members work with students in the Envirothon Club on a weekly basis.
For more information, visit the PA State Envirothon web site at http://www.envirothonpa.org/.