| BULLETIN BOARD Eco reading: Virginia Cooperative Extension, a Virginia Tech-based organization that offers education in farm management, agriculture, and natural resources, recently announced that it has released several of its publications in e-book format. Free publications include “Boiling Water Bath Canning,” “Pruning Peach Trees,” and “Aerating Your Lawn,” and additional titles will be released each month. Natural resilience: The Nature Floral fun: On June 10, Inglewood Lavender Farm in Arrington opened |
Remember the days when you and your buddies played outside until the streetlights came on? When eating and sleeping were the only reasons to go inside? Henley Middle School science teacher Kevin Murphy, who directs the ARC Natural History Day Camp each summer, remembers those days, and wants to share them with his students and campers.
“A lot of kids stay inside and play computer games,” he said. “It’s almost nature deficit disorder.”
Murphy said a true appreciation for nature comes through hands-on learning experience that allows kids to draw their own conclusions.
“You can’t want to save the environment if you really have no understanding of it,” he said.
For those who want (or need) to put down the video games and acquire a few grass stains, nature-related summer camps are available for kids of all ages in and around Charlottesville.
ARC Natural History Day Camp
Originally created by the Piedmont Environmental Council, the ARC Natural History Day Camp allows kids to run around outside and get filthy from head to toe while discovering meadows, forests, creeks and ponds at Panorama Farms in Earlysville. Campers break into small learning groups to explore, and reconvene in the afternoons for crafts and games. With no indoor facility aside from a barn, campers are outside all day, barring extreme weather conditions.
The junior session, for grades two and three, runs from June 18-22 and costs $200. Campers in grades four and five can attend the regular session from June 18-29 for $300.
Pathfinders Nature Inspired Art Camp
The McGuffey Arts Center sponsors this day camp at Charlottesville Waldorf School for kids who love nature and art. Campers can enjoy building bamboo huts, carving, sculpting, and using natural materials to explore their artistic talents.
Five-day sessions, with healthy snacks and art materials included, are available in June and July for $275, and two-week sessions are available for ages 9 to 15.
Each five-day session is $275, with five sessions available for 7-12 year-olds and two for kids 9-15.
The Living Earth School
Located in Afton, the Living Earth School is a place where kids with a genuine interest in nature can develop new skills and understand their place in the natural world. Campers learn about animal tracking, bird language, wilderness survival and edible and medicinal plants through both day and overnight programs.
Prices for overnight sessions are $585-694, and vary depending on the program. Day camps are also available for $270 per session.—Laura Ingles
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Original recipient Jerry McCarthy (right) presented the McCarthy Award to this year’s winner, Mark Miller, at the Institute for Environmental Negotiation graduation ceremony last week. (Photo by Ellen Martin) |
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Award winner blazes trails
In a time of conflict over forests, waterways, and mountains, UVA’s Institute for Environmental Negotiation is celebrating resolution and awarding leading environmental peacemakers for their work. Each year, the IEN presents the McCarthy Award to an individual or group that demonstrates exemplary efforts in protecting Virginia’s environment through problem solving.
Last Wednesday, at the IEN’s graduation ceremony, Mark Miller from Lexington received the award for his work to preserve land within the Thomas Jefferson and George Washington National Forests.
Miller always had a love for the outdoors, he said, and at the age of 13 he moved from northern Minnesota to the piedmont of Virginia, “where there were no public lands.”
“It was then that I began to realize the importance of public lands,” he said.
For the last two years, Miller organized outreach and collaboration for the Virginia Ridge and Valley Act of 2010. The Act ultimately designated 53,000 acres of land in the Jefferson National Forest to both Wilderness and National Scenic areas, which Miller said seemed like an insurmountable task.
His job is to help environmental stakeholders come to joint decisions regarding how public lands are used. For example, he negotiated with the Wilderness Society and the International Mountain Bicycling Association regarding wilderness land and trail systems. With Miller’s ability to problem solve, the two groups signed an agreement that he said was the first of its kind. The agreement was a series of boundary adjustments that allows bicyclists to use National Scenic areas without disrupting the Wilderness areas, and Miller said the model is being used nationwide to create similar bills.
“He did amazing things,” said IEN Director Frank Dukes.
Dukes said the McCarthy award was founded to recognize people who are brave enough to cross boundaries in order to benefit the community, the environment and the economy.
Miller said that receiving the award “still doesn’t quite seem real,” and he’s eager to move on to the next step of transferring the concept work into actuality on the ground.—L.I.