News.bytes Extra, issue 483

Students learn importance of natural resources

With spring in the air, albeit in fits and starts, Lassen County teachers are turning their attention to the outdoors and the importance of instructing pupils on the importance of conserving natural resources.  The BLM Eagle Lake Field Office has been joining other area agencies in lending support at a variety of field trips.

 
BLM Botanist Carol Gibbs (white shirt, right side of photo) talks with a group of second graders about the importance of controlling noxious weeds on the public lands and how agencies and the agriculture industry are wonking to improve watersheds.

About 60 second graders  participated in the Ag Resources Day event at McKinley School in Susanville.  The BLM, Lassen National Forest, Natural Resources Conservation Service and Honey Lake Valley Resource Conservation District were among the agencies that helped plan and host the day with support from private organizations including the Young Farmers and Ranchers, Howe's Dairy and Sierra Cascade Nursery, a local strawberry grower.

 
BLM Outdoor Recreation Planner Marisa Williams, top right, and Marilla Baker, a student seasonal archaeology employee, lead Johnstonville School students through a game about how natural resources are interconnected.

Missi Nelson, a wildlife biologist in the Eagle Lake Field Office discusses wildlife of the Great Basin during a visit to Johnstonville School. 

Rainy weather forced cancellation of the Johnstonville students' annual visit to a nearby interpretive site, so the BLM staff brought the "field trip" to the school, using a variety of props and games to discuss natural resources at several indoor learning stations.

- Jeff Fontana, BLM Northern California public affairs, 5/26/11

BLM-California News.bytes, issue 483
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