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THE AMERICAN LEGION
DEPARTMENT OF CALIFORNIA
2004 YOUTH ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE
CONVENTION REPORT
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| Pictured above - California’s students that attended the 2004 Conference
Volunteer adult chaperones were Legionnaires Gene Fanucci and Walt Waite, District 13, Julie Potter, District 18, Science Teacher Rick Bernard from West Covina High School, and Barbara Ross, Coordinator, Unit 84, District 31 |
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Set in beautiful El Dorado County, the Sacramento County Board of Education Science Center was, once again, the site for the 2004 Youth Environmental Conference. Fifty Two students were sponsored by 18 Posts in 13 districts, 1 district and 1 PCC.
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| Breakfast at Post 521 |
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| Of the 52 students who had submitted paperwork, 43 joined us for breakfast at Rio Linda Post 521 on Friday, May 21 to begin their 4 days of studying and learning about the environment and how each living thing has an effect on all the others. Volunteer adult chaperones were Legionnaires Gene Fanucci and Walt Waite, District 13, Julie Potter, District 18, Science Teacher Rick Bernard from West Covina High School, and Barbara Ross, Coordinator, Unit 84, District 31. |
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A binder full of information prepared by the Forest Service, orientation, videos and lectures were the introduction to what information would be provided throughout the weekend.
On Saturday, quiet reflection time was spent on the sandy shore of a pristine stretch of Lake Tahoe. The students developed their own thoughts, and afterward many of them shared their thoughts with the group. The written reflections were turned in by those who chose to; they were typed and distributed to the students as a package.
| | Students learn what information they are
going to be given over the next 4 days |
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| Students learn about the 3 branches of government and who is responsible for making sure the laws are followed with regard to National Forest property. Students are disguised as President Bush, the legislature and the court |
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Hiking was part of the daily program, both on sites near the camp, and on sites at So. Lake Tahoe such as the Lake of the Sky and Rainbow trails and the underground profile stream chamber, where fish are on display and a magnificent wall mural which depicts the four seasons In addition to the five Forest Service personnel who volunteered their weekend to be with the conference, each of whom have a career specialty which they discussed with the students, we were joined by Gay Eitel, head of Visitor Services in the Lake Tahoe Basin Management Unit who spoke about the history of the area and how the forest and lake have been affected by the increasing human population. Mike St. Michael, Director of the LTBMU Visitor Center; Rex Norman Public Affairs Officer and his wife, Jean, Information Assistant of the LTBMU gave us a guided tour of the trails, pointing out sites of interest – an antiquated, but still used, snowfall gauge which also measure wind velocity and rainfall – trees felled by beavers to form a dam and the dam being removed by the forest service to allow for free fish flow – the beavers will not re-use the trees – so they fell more and start all over again. They discussed the effect of drought verses the problems caused by too much rain and snow.
| Students play the name game in hat color groups to help each other, and the adults assigned to them, learn their names |
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The students learned how to use the boring device to pull a plug from a tree to determine its age and how to measure the proper spot on a tree to determine its girth. All of these exercises are used by the Forest Service to determine which trees should be removed for the purpose of thinning a forest allowing other trees to survive and grow. The students studied the strict guidelines to determine which trees were eligible to be considered for removal
Rock wall climbing, basketball, star gazing, planetarium, learning about the new firesafe councils that are being formed in forest communities, seeing the devastation and cost of a wildfire, working together in groups to develop solutions to problems, presenting their solutions to the assembly, and devouring lots and lots of good food were all woven into this busy four day program.
Highlight of the weekend is the Sunday Night talent show which consists of student-written skits, singing, dancing, etc. followed by a marshmallow roast.
Monday morning – time to pack up. Get the gear to the bus and report for one more exercise…how much did we learn? Full participation is expected as the students are provided a scenario of issues that were discussed over the 3 previous days, and they arrive at a final conclusion. With that information fresh in their minds they board the bus for a stop at Nimbus Fish Hatchery in Sacramento, then on to home – another group of students with many, many ideas on how to save the environment, what kind of careers they can find with the Forest Service, and an idea of how cooperation between different agencies and the community can bring most issues to a mutually-satisfactory conclusion.
We would like to thank Haggin Grant Post 521, District 6, and Department Adjutant Bill Mayer for their generous donation which allowed us to purchase new participation pins for the students and counselors. Designed by Gary Ross, Post 84, District 31, the pin bears both the American Legion and Forest Service emblems with a background of mountains, trees, lake and grass. Pins are provided to the sponsoring post to be presented to the students at the time they give their report.
Highest thanks go to our ever-present Frank Mosbacher, Public Affairs Officer, (who has been with the program for 25 years); Kristi Schroeder, Public Affairs Unit, ENF, Sean McGinniss, Lead Wilderness Ranger, Amy Reid, OHV Route Inventory Coordinator and Dee DEE Hannon. Fuels Technician – all of whom are Forest Rangers in the El Dorado National Forest.
We hope to have a collage of pictures and several of the binders on display at convention. Come see us.
Barbara Ross, Coordinator |
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