Displaying items by tag: Environmental Camp

As part of its efforts to empower parents to take their kids outside, Nature Rocks introduces its 2009 Summer Nature Staycation Planning Guide. Available at Nature Rocks , this free Guide provides parents and caregivers with information and tools to enjoy no- or low-cost summer vacations in nature that are close to home.

"The benefits of nature for children are fundamental. We have seen tremendous growth in the movement to get children back outside, as parents realize these benefits for their children, and themselves, and spread the word," said Richard Louv, co-founder of The Children & Nature Network and author of the best-seller Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature-Deficit Disorder. "And, as families look for lower cost vacation options, we hope they will discover that nature offers them a personal stimulus package – the joy and cost-effectiveness of summer getaways in nearby nature – saving money while improving the physical and emotional well-being of their children."

"Nature Rocks really speaks to our passion of getting families to recreate together outside," said Sally Jewell, president and CEO of Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI). "By combining efforts with the other organizations behind Nature Rocks, we're able to make a difference and improve the lifestyles of American families by making it easy and fun to get moving and get outdoors."

Whether seeking outdoor activities at local sites such as parks and campsites, or looking for new activities to keep out-of-school kids active in backyards and neighborhoods, the 2009 Summer Nature Staycation Planning Guide offers information and solutions for all families, including those new to spending time outdoors. Additionally, the Nature Rocks website has more than 100 activity recommendations, as well as user-friendly nature finder and social networking tools to assist families in implementing their own Nature Staycations this summer.

"The Nature Conservancy works around the world to protect ecologically important lands and waters, and we are dedicated to supporting conservation work that will not only enrich the natural world, but also better our health and our lives," said M. Sanjayan, Lead Scientist at The Nature Conservancy. "Now, working on the Nature Rocks initiative, we're able to help the next generation better their health and reconnect with nature."

"As a working mom with two young children, I appreciate useful ideas that improve my and my family's lives," said Meighen Speiser, Vice President of Marketing for ecoAmerica. "Like all parents, I want what is best for my kids. We enjoy fun and relaxing quality time together. The Nature Rocks website offers loads of easy-to-use tools, tips and over 100 fun activities like nature art, weekend camping, hiking at a nearby park or an impromptu neighborhood nature scavenger hunt. The added bonus is that these activities are either inexpensive or free."
2009 Summer Nature Staycation Planning Guide

The 2009 Summer Nature Staycation Planning Guide provides parents with a useful tool to plan a range of close-to-home activities, complete with great starter ideas and suggestions for families to use during their summer holiday. The Guide has been developed to be helpful to all families across the country – regardless of where they live, their kids' ages, time available, or familiarity with nature, or if they want to do an activity outside or bring nature indoors. 

For some parents they may wish to augment your local Nature with a Traditional Children's Summer Camp experience. Swift Nature Camp is a wonderful way to have children learn more about nature while getting away from all the societal trappings that young people feel defines who they are. To learn more visit Swift Nature Camp online Nature Summer Camps
Swift Nature Camp is a Minnesota Summer Camp for boys and girls ages 6-15. We blend traditional Overnight Summer Camp activities while increasing a child's appreciation for nature and the environment at this Science Summer Camp.

Now is a good time to show your support for this effort - here's how:

1. Attend Lobby Day - March 16th, 2011

The Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters (WLCV) has declared the Wisconsin Children's Outdoor Bill of Rights a legislative priority for 2011-12. You can show your support and speak directly with legislators about this issue at WLCV's Lobby Day on March 16th. For more information and to register for this exciting and empowering day, visit: Lobby Day 2011.

You are also invited to attend:
WAEE's Lobby Day Breakfast 
Immediately preceding WLCV's Lobby Day
9-10am March 16th, 2011
Monona Terrace Room M/Q
Madison

RSVP to WAEE Advocacy Chair, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

There's more you can do:

2. Sign on as a Children's Outdoor Bill of Rights Supporter.

3. Contact Your Legislator to let them know EE is important in Wisconsin and mention the Children's Outdoor Bill of Rights. 

4. Forward this information to your colleagues.

What is the Children's Outdoor Bill of Rights?

Children who have the opportunity to explore, learn and play in Wisconsin's outdoors are more likely to be healthy, to do better in school, to experience improved creativity and concentration, and to discover the rewards of outdoor stewardship. To that end, we believe the children of Wisconsin have the right to experience each of the following (draft) activities during their youth:

Every Wisconsin child has the right to:

• Follow a trail, whether by hiking or biking.
• Visit a working farm.
• Eat healthy and sustainable food.
• Splash, swim and play in a clean Wisconsin lake or river.
• Catch and release frogs, fireflies, and insects.
• Tap a maple tree.
• Explore wild places close to home.
• Eat a fish they catch.
• Discover Wisconsin’s diverse wilderness – prairies, forests, wetlands, and beaches.
• Share a hunting experience with a great mentor or teacher.

Why is it important to get involved?

In order to pass this resolution, we need your help! Over a thousand bills and resolutions come across our legislators desks each year but only about 30% are passed. Those that pass do so thanks to people like you. Legislators tell us they are significantly more likely to consider a bill or resolution if they've heard about it from their constituents. 

Is the timing right?

Now is a great time speak up for EE: the Children's Outdoor Bill of Rights is a non-budgetary resolution and may be just what legislators are looking for to stand behind (rather than the politically charged "budget repair" bill). However, in order to be heard above the current turmoil and get legislators' support, it's critical the EE community comes forward to declare "EE in our state is important". 

Questions?

Need more information or want to learn more about how this venture got started and where it can take us? Visit the Wisconsin Children's Outdoor Bill of Rightswebsite or contact us - we're happy to discuss this exciting project with you:

WAEE 
Betsy Parker, Networking & Advocacy Chair
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
(608) 209.2909

• habitat loss and degradation
• overharvest of wild turtles for food, traditional medicines, and pets
• mortality from roads, agricultural machinery, fishing bycatch, and predators
• invasive exotic species and diseases
• loss of unique genetic makeup due to hybridization
• climate change

• A downloadable turtle photo calendar for each month, including a photo contest – your photo could be in the calendar!
• Information about turtle conservation efforts and groups, and how you can help
• Interviews with turtle experts, and answers to selected questions that YOU send us!
• Information on how you can help spread the word about turtles
• Educational materials
• Turtle art, poetry, and cultural information
• ... and much, MUCH, more!
• At Swift Nature Camp you can learn more with hands on studies with turtles.

DISTRIBUTION AND HABITAT:

 Eurasian milfoil first arrived in Wisconsin in the 1960's. During the 1980's, it began to move from several counties in southern Wisconsin to lakes and waterways in the northern half of the state. As of 1993, Eurasian milfoil was common in 39 Wisconsin counties (54%) and at least 75 of its lakes, including shallow bays in Lakes Michigan and Superior and Mississippi River pools.
Eurasian water milfoil grows best in fertile, fine-textured, inorganic sediments. In less productive lakes, it is restricted to areas of nutrient-rich sediments. It has a history of becoming dominant in eutrophic, nutrient-rich lakes, although this pattern is not universal. It is an opportunistic species that prefers highly disturbed lake beds, lakes receiving nitrogen and phosphorous-laden runoff, and heavily used lakes. Optimal growth occurs in alkaline systems with a high concentration of dissolved inorganic carbon. High water temperatures promote multiple periods of flowering and fragmentation.

LIFE HISTORY AND EFFECTS OF INVASION:

Unlike many other plants, Eurasian water milfoil does not rely on seed for reproduction. Its seeds germinate poorly under natural conditions. It reproduces vegetatively by fragmentation, allowing it to disperse over long distances. The plant produces fragments after fruiting once or twice during the summer. These shoots may then be carried downstream by water currents or inadvertently picked up by boaters. Milfoil is readily dispersed by boats, motors, trailers, bilges, live wells, or bait buckets, and can stay alive for weeks if kept moist.
Once established in an aquatic community, milfoil reproduces from shoot fragments and stolons (runners that creep along the lake bed). As an opportunistic species, Eurasian water milfoil is adapted for rapid growth early in spring. Stolons, lower stems, and roots persist over winter and store the carbohydrates that help milfoil claim the water column early in spring, photosynthesize, divide, and form a dense leaf canopy that shades out native aquatic plants. Its ability to spread rapidly by fragmentation and effectively block out sunlight needed for native plant growth often results in monotypic stands. Monotypic stands of Eurasian milfoil provide only a single habitat, and threaten the integrity of aquatic communities in a number of ways; for example, dense stands disrupt predator-prey relationships by fencing out larger fish, and reducing the number of nutrient-rich native plants available for waterfowl.
Dense stands of Eurasian water milfoil also inhibit recreational uses like swimming, boating, and fishing. Some stands have been dense enough to obstruct industrial and power generation water intakes. The visual impact that greets the lake user on milfoil-dominated lakes is the flat yellow-green of matted vegetation, often prompting the perception that the lake is "infested" or "dead". Cycling of nutrients from sediments to the water column by Eurasian water milfoil may lead to deteriorating water quality and algae blooms of infested lakes.

CONTROLLING EURASIAN WATER MILFOIL:

Preventing a milfoil invasion involves various efforts. Public awareness of the necessity to remove weed fragments at boat landings, a commitment to protect native plant beds from speed boaters and indiscriminate plant control that disturbs these beds, and a watershed management program to keep nutrients from reaching lakes and stimulating milfoil colonies--all are necessary to prevent the spread of milfoil.
Monitoring and prevention are the most important steps for keeping Eurasian water milfoil under control. A sound precautionary measure is to check all equipment used in infested waters and remove all aquatic vegetation upon leaving the lake or river. All equipment, including boats, motors, trailers, and fishing/diving equipment, should be free of aquatic plants.
Lake managers and lakeshore owners should check for new colonies and control them before they spread. The plants can be hand pulled or raked. It is imperative that all fragments be removed from the water and the shore. Plant fragments can be used in upland areas as a garden mulch.

DNR permits are required for chemical treatments, bottom screening, buoy/barrier placement, and mechanized removal.

Mechanical Control:

 Mechanical cutters and harvesters are a common method for controlling Eurasian water milfoil in Wisconsin. While harvesting may clear out beaches and boat landings by breaking up the milfoil canopy, the method is not selective, removing beneficial aquatic vegetation as well. These machines also create shoot fragments, which contributes to milfoil dispersal. Harvesting should be used only after colonies have become widespread, and harvesters should be used offshore where they have room to turn around. Hand cutters work best inshore, where they complement hand pulling and bottom screening. A diver-operated suction dredge can be used to vacuum up weeds, but the technique can destroy nearby native plants and temporarily raise water turbidity.
Hand pulling is the preferred control method for colonies of under 0.75 acres or fewer than 100 plants. The process can be highly effective at selectively removing Eurasian water milfoil if done carefully; special care must be taken to collect all roots and plant fragments during removal. Hand pulling is a time-consuming process.
Bottom screening can be used for small-scale and localized infestations on sites with little boat traffic, but will kill native vegetation as well. The bottom screens are anchored firmly against the lake bed to kill grown shoots and prevent new sprouts, but screens must be removed each fall to clean off sediment that encourages rooting. Buoys can mark identified colonies and warn boaters to stay away. Bottom screens may exacerbate a milfoil population once removed, because Eurasian water milfoil will readily re-colonize the bare sediment.
Whenever possible, milfoil control sites should become customized management zones. For example, milfoil removal by harvesting can be followed by planting native plants to stabilize sediments against wave action, build nurseries for fry, attract waterfowl, and compete against new milfoil invasions.

Chemical Control:

 Herbicide treatments are commonly used to control Eurasian water milfoil. While no herbicide treatment is completely selective for milfoil, timing treatment early in the spring as soon as water warms helps limit unintentional harm to native plants. Herbicide treatments are most effective combined with vigilant post-treatment monitoring and non-chemical controls such as hand-pulling milfoil as it returns. When used carelessly, chemical treatments can be disruptive to aquatic ecosystems, not selective in the vegetation affected, and can cause more harm than good.

Biological Control:

 Eurhychiopsis lecontei, an herbivorous weevil native to North America, has been found to feed on Eurasian water milfoil. Adult weevils feed on the stems and leaves, and females lay their eggs on the apical meristem (top-growing tip); larvae bore into stems and cause extensive damage to plant tissue before pupating and emerging from the stem. Three generations of weevils hatch each summer, with females laying up to two eggs per day. It is believed that these insects are causing substantial decline in some milfoil populations. Because this weevil prefers Eurasian water milfoil, other native aquatic plant species, including northern water milfoil, are not at risk from the weevil's introduction. Twelve Wisconsin lakes are currently part of a two-year DNR project studying the weevil's effectiveness in curbing Eurasian water milfoil populations. The fungus Mycoleptidiscus terrestris is also under extensive research.