Youth Forestry and Natural Resources 

 

Penn State Cooperative Extension of McKean County

Ray Bierbower, Extension Educator   

 

Hello and welcome to the Youth Forestry and Natural Resources pbwiki!!  I am excited to use this new method to distribute club and program information to all youth.  The funding for this program is through Title III allocations specifically for forest resource related educational opportunities that are after school or out of school in design.  I will be updating the site frequently.  I will have wildlife and forestry briefs, club news, programs updates, and upcoming events such as the Forestry and Natural Resources Adventure Camp and Outdoor Adventure Field Day announcements. 

 

Clubs

 

Youth Outdoor Club

The Youth Outdoor Club is for youth ages 8-18 who have an interest in the outdoors, wildlife, and forestry.  We will meet at least once a month and make many trips to State Parks and the Allegheny National Forest.  Members will learn about a variety of subjects such as forestry, wildlife, stream ecology, mapping and GPS, forest ecology, camping, hiking, and orienteering. 

 

The club met on October 21, 2007 at the Kinzua Bridge State Park for a hike with the naturalist and program on tree identification.  Members learned about 8 tree species and how to identify them.  The trees that were covered included: Black Cherry, Sugar Maple, American Chestnut, Black Birch, Quaking Aspen, Striped Maple, American Beech, and Eastern Hemlock, our state tree. 

 

The club meeting on November 15, 2007 had three members present.  We discussed what the club will be doing, looked at the wiki, and talked about doing the podcasts.  Members were asked to think of a club name. 

 

The club met on January 21, 2008 at 6:00-7:00 pm.  The meeting started with making track casts.  Members were provided information on the upcoming 4-H Forestry and Wildlife Comepetitions that will be occuring in the spring along with the Forestry and Natural Resources Adventure Camp.  We discussed ten trees native to Pennsylvania and how to identify them in preparation for the 4-H Forestry Field Day and The 4-H Wildlife Habitat Evaluation Competition. 

 

The Youth Club met on February 24, 2008 at the Extension office in Smethport.  The weather was beautiful and we traveled to the Smethport School to hike Discovery Trail to discuss forest structure and learn to measure trees using the Biltmore stick along with some basic tree id.  Members learned how to identify the following trees in preparation for the 4-H Forestry and Wildlife Competitions in the spring: American Beech, Black Cherry, Pin Oak, Northern Red Oak, Quaking Aspen, Striped Maple, Sugar Maple, Red Pine, Norway Spruce, and Eastern White Pine.  The club will meet again on March 30, 2008 at 1:30-3:00. 

 

 

Members:  I would like to come up with a club name that represents us better.  Send me your suggestions at erb161@psu.edu and put CLUB NAME as the subject.

 

Outdoor Hubbers

The Outdoor Hubbers meet every Tuesday after school at the Smethport Family Center.  Members are in 4th through 6th grades and participate in programs on forestry and natural resources.

Members learned how to use a GPS and geocache this week and located two geocaches in Hamlin Lake Park titled Island Paradise and Foreign Coins.  A location was found for the club to hide its first geocache and the coordinates are: N41 48.372  W78 27.259  Be sure to bring something to go with the outdoors theme!!  The cache has been found five times to date and folks are really enjoying it.  The bridge has been questioned but has not been a problem. 

 

The Hubbers had Heather  McKean from the McKean County Conservation District visit and take the club to a stream to do a stream study and identify macro-invertebrates.  This week the Hubbers made a winter bird feeder using thread, bread, popcorn, peanut butter, bird seed, and oatmeal.  Members were instructed to hand it up and observe the wildlife that were attracted and make of note of them.   Members hung the feeders and various wildlife was seen such as chickadees, cardinals, squirrels, and chipmunks. 

 

In January, members have been learning about the reptiles, amphibians, and birds of Pennsylvania.  Members each created a podcast after researching a particular animal native to Pennslyvania.  The podcasts are available on the county website, under the natural resoures tab, and the podcast heading.   

 

Kane Community Center GPS Club

The KCC GPS Club meets on Wednesday at the Kane Community Center.  Members are learning how to use GPS and GIS by geocaching and mapping.  Members have found several caches located in Kane and will be placing some of their own shortly and the links will be posted here.  A project that will be starting shortly is mapping the businesses of Kane and creating a map for the Chamber of Commerce.    Several businesses have been mapped and logged into the data base.  The project is moving along well.  Members viewed the start of the map and data base of information that has been collected to date. 

 

Wildlife and Forestry Kids Club

The Wildlife and Forestry Kids Club meets on Thursdays at the Kane Memorial Library and is for youth in grades 5th-7th.  Members have learned about the structure of wood and that they can blow bubbles through some types of wood and others they cannot.  Wildlife tracks were created and they learned about each species.  Members learned how to read a topo map and to identify specific land features.  The fish of Pennsylvania were discussed the the great diversity among them.  Members fashioned their own fish by combining the characteristics of several native fish. The club created a winter bird feeder as the Hubbers did.   Members hung the feeders and various wildlife was seen such as chickadees, cardinals, squirrels, and chipmunks.  Members discussed food chains and food webs and created their own from the food they ate for lunch.  Members have learned about the reptiles, amphibians, and birds of Pennsylvania during the month of January.  They will start to make podcasts as well. 

 

 

Programs 

 

Trout in the Classroom

Nine schools in Cameron, McKean, and Potter Counties will be raising Brook trout, Pennsylvania's state fish, in their classrooms.  Eggs were delivered on October 30 and students will care for the trout until May 2008 when they will be released into a stream that is stocked by the Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission.  The eggs have hatched and the fry are currently eating crumbles.  Some schools have reported trout that are colored differently and even a two headed trout.

 

In 2006 we raised 360 trout to fingerlings.   Below is a picture of one of the set-ups from last year.

 

 

 

Forestry and Natural Resources Adventure 2008, May 23-25

This years camp will be held May 23-35, 2008 at Resting Waters Program Center in Mount Jewett, PA.  The camp is for youth ages 8-13 and have an interest to learn more about our natural resources.  Topics for this years camp include fishing, outdoor cooking, canoeing and kayaking, and tree appreciation.  Applications will be available in March. 

 

2007

The annual Forestry and Natural Resources Adventure Camp was held May 25-27, 2007 at Resting Waters Program Center. Twenty two youth attended the second annual Forestry and Natural Resources Adventure camp held at Resting Waters Program Center in Mount Jewett, PA.  John Laskowski, aka Mothman, Rob Fallon of the National Forest Service, Lenny Groshek of the Pennsylvania Game Commission, Stan Hess of the DCNR Bureau of Forestry, Shane Lister and Tom Murphy of 4-H Shooting Sports, Paul Schoolmaster Dorothy Densomore, and David Wells were all outside presenters brought to camp to provide education environmental programs for the participants.

 

 

 

The programs included a night hike, moth collecting and identification, tree appreciation hike, wildlife of Pennsylvania, shooting sports, fishing, outdoor cooking, camp fires, canoeing and kayaking, building bluebird boxes, and leave no trace behind camping. Campers received four trees; white spruce, white pine, flowering crabapple, and American hazelnut, to plant.  100% of youth will plant these trees as part of a wildlife habitat improvement project and 94% of youth will hang their bird box for birds to utilize.  14 of 18 youth surveyed will practice leave no trace behind camping and hiking.

9 of 19 youth surveyed indicated it was their first time to shoot a rifle and all will practice safe firearm handling.  4 of 18 surveyed indicated it was their first time to shoot archery.

The level of respect campers had for Pennsylvania's forest increased as a result of attending the Forestry and Natural Resources Adventure Camp.

 

Outdoor Adventure Field Day 2008

The date for 2008 Field Day is June 21, 2008 at Hamlin Lake Park in Smethport, PA.

 

The first Outdoor Adventure Field Day was held June 16, 2007 at Hamling Lake Park.  Two hundred and fifty people attended the event to learn about our natural resources and how to use them for recreation.  

 

 

 

 

 

Questions or comments can be sent to  erb161@psu.edu