News.bytes Extra, issue 232

Girl Scouts take the Juliette Low LNT Challenge

Sixty Brownie and Junior Girl Scouts and adults attended the Juliette Low Leave No Trace Challenge Event May 6-7, 2006, at the Hidden Valley Wildlife Area on the Santa Ana River in Riverside. Girls "traveled" to the four Girl Scout World Centers -- Pax Lodge, England; Sangam, India; Our Chalet, Swiss Alps; and Our Cabana, Mexico -- looking for clues to find Juliette Low. The girls were given situations to solve at each World Center and competed to show their skills in knots and lashing, first aid, map and compass, trail signs, and leave no trace outdoor skills. Before attending the Challenge, the girls had attended a Juliette Low LNT Skills Workshop and practiced their skills for five weeks.

Half hitches are easy - see!

Activities at each station were led by Leave No Trace Master Educators Tracy Albrecht of the Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument; Jo Ann Schiffer-Burdett of the Bureau of Land Management's California Desert District Office; Margaret Scott; LNT trainer Annie Scott; RMK Elementary Teacher Lynn Knowles and Hidden Valley Wildlife Area naturalist Marge Valdez, who also discussed careers in natural resources with the girls.

Building a hand wash station using a clove hitch and square knot and lashing:

Marge Valdez, Hidden Valley Wildlife Area naturalist, led the girls and leaders on a night hike to the Santa Ana River where they discovered animal tracks, saw night animals and heard hawks, owls, tree frogs, and deep-throated bullfrogs. Stater Bros. Grocery, Jerry Snapp,Troll's Garden, and Lowes donated supplies for the event.

Junior Girl Scouts with Snuggles, a rescued baby oppossum:

The girls learned about public land conservation and earned their First-Aid, Outdoor Fun, Know Your Way, and Leave No Trace (LNT) badges. The troops adopted the Hidden Valley's Native Plant Garden for the volunteer conservation project as part of their Leave No Trace badge requirement. Hidden Valley's will sponsor a volunteer day on National Public Lands Day - Sept. 30, 2006. To Register for the nation's largest single day volunteer event for public lands: http://www.publiclandsday.org/.

10 essentials: Troop 348 chooses what items to take on a day hike

"Plan Ahead and Prepare" - Junior Troop 266 does a skit based on this principle. They have their First Aid kit ready, and help an injured girl scout:

For more information on Leave No Trace visit: http://www.LNT.org;

For information on the Sahuaro Girl Scout Council's Leave No Trace badge visit: www.sahuarogsc.org/badgework/

- May, 2006

BLM California News.bytes, issue 232