2nd National Extension Nat Res Conference-Abstract 19

J. Kent McAdoo, Nevada Cooperative Extension, 1500 College Parkway, Elko, NV 89801-5032; 775.738.7291; kmcadoo@agnt1.ag.unr.edu; and Sherman R. Swanson, Nevada Cooperative Extension, Reno, NV

The Nevada Youth Range Camp has a successful 39-year history of providing high school age young people with a week-long learning experience focused on natural resource management. Nevada Cooperative Extension (NCE) has assumed a leadership role in the administration and implementation of this ?hands-on? teaching tool since its beginning. Cooperating instructors and counselors, along with NCE personnel, include resource specialists from the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Nevada Association of Conservation Districts, Nevada Division of Forestry, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, Nevada Division of Wildlife, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and Nevada Department of Agriculture. Co-sponsors of the event are the Society for Range Management, Nevada Wildlife Federation, and NCE.

The camp is headquartered at the U.S. Forest Service Big Creek Campground, nestled on the western slope of the Toiyabe Mountains in central Nevada. Facilities are primitive but appropriate, and the setting is excellent for valuable learning experiences. The purpose of the camp is to acquaint Nevada youth with the interrelationships among people and rangeland vegetation, water, soils, and wildlife. Campers are challenged to make objective decisions concerning resource management and use. The camp provides participants an opportunity to learn outdoor skills and exposes these youths to career possibilities in range and related resource management fields. The program?s intent is not to create range managers out of campers, but to help develop future leaders with the ability to understand rangeland resource relationships.

Each camp-week is filled with diverse learning opportunities. These include instruction in various subjects and problem solving exercises taught by resource professionals. The students keep notebooks that are later used to study for a rangeland exam, which includes questions from each of the topics discussed during the week.

Campers learn the interrelationships among the many resources and uses of rangelands. They study the connections between range soils and vegetation and are challenged to identify at least 50 species of range plants. They also learn the value of these plants to watersheds, wildlife, and livestock. The campers have the opportunity to directly observe wildlife in natural habitats and tour a local ranch with the rancher. Their knowledge of rangeland interrelationships is tested later in the week as they develop and present their own rangeland management plan. The outstanding camper of the week is dubbed ?Trailboss,? and represents Nevada at the high school forum of the Society for Range Management annual meeting.

Since establishment of the Nevada Youth Range Camp in 1961, hundreds of Nevada?s young people have participated in the program. Today, many of these former campers are leaders in natural resource management and in their communities.