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Linking Girls to the Land Camps a Success for Kansas Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Councils

by Darla J. Juhl, RC&D Coordinator, Solomon Valley RC&D
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
Stockton, Kansas

A speckled kingsnake, handled by Lorrie Beck of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, gets up close with campers at the Linking Girls to the Land Day Camp at Lakeview Christian Camp. Lessons on trees, turtles, and tornadoes were just a few of the activities held at the first ever Kansas Linking Girls to the Land at northwest Kansas day camps. The camps were held at four sites during the first two weeks in June and drew nearly 140 participants.

The Solomon Valley, Smoky Hills, and Western Prairie Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) councils teamed up with the Kansas Girl Scouts of Sunflower Council in Hays, Kansas, to direct the event. Linking Girls to the Land is an interagency partnership between the Girl Scouts of the USA’s Elliott Wildlife Values Project and federal natural resource conservation agencies, initiatives, and partner organizations. The program encourages partnerships among the agencies in order to provide more conservation and outdoor programs to Girl Scout members across the country. Linking Girls to the Land provides environmental education programs, outdoor recreation skills, volunteer service, and career awareness.

Bob Tricks, NRCS Area 1 Soil Scientist, and Donna Fay Major, Russell County Conservation District Manager, examine different types of soils with campers during the Linking Girls to the Land Day Camp in Hays. The camps were offered to girls in first through third grades at sites in Oberlin, Hays, St. Francis, and Stockton. Participants rotated through a series of workshops that featured a 30-minute lesson on topics such as weather, trees, animals, soils, and history of the land. Presenters and agencies included Jim Strine, Kansas Forest Service; Bob Tricks, Natural Resources Conservation Service; Cindy Fay, Priscilla Parnham, and Jennifer Ritterling, National Weather Service; Lorrie Beck, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and Phyllis Howard, Reggie Murray, and Sherda Williams, Nicodemus National Historic Site. Staff members from the Kansas Natural Resources Foundation, K-State Research and Extension, Northwest Kansas Conservation and Environmental Alliance, and Sternberg Museum were also on hand to provide activities for the campers.

Monica Legleiter, communications director for Girl Scouts of Sunflower Council, called the camps “amazing.” “From the support of the local, state, and federal agencies involved from planning through implementation of the workshops to the smiles on girls’ faces, the camps were absolutely amazing,” Legleiter says.

Plans are underway for a second installment of Linking Girls camps to be held next spring. The spring camps will be for girls in grades 6 through 12 and focus on agricultural and environmental careers and entrepreneurship.

This article is also available in Microsoft Word format.

Linking Girls to the Land Camps a Success for Kansas Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Councils (DOC; 175 KB) (Click on images above to download larger version of the picture)

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Last Modified: 08/22/2008