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YOUTH CONSERVATION CAMP

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Youth Conservation Camp returned to an in-person camp for 2022!  The District sponsored 4 students:  Austin Cox and Celeste Mitchell from Cumberland and Elizabeth Grant and Ammon Harkins from Buckingham.  All 4 students serve on their respective Envirothon Teams.  

This year's camp will be held July 9-15, 2023.  

For over 40 years, the Virginia Association of Soil and Water Conservation Districts has sponsored a week long summer conservation camp for Virginia high school students (currently enrolled in grades 9-12) on the campus of Virginia Tech. The program brings together about 70 interested students for a week of learning about Virginia’s natural resources from conservation professionals and faculty from Virginia Tech. Most of the instruction is hands-on and outdoors.

Foster Harkins and Resa Smith, Buckingha

Foster Harkins and Resa Smith for being awarded a full $550 scholarship by PFSWCD for Youth Conservation Camp

Here are photos from 2018 camp:

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Peter Francisco SWCD sponsors at least two and up to four students for this camp. Below is a typical Youth Conservation Camp Week:

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Sunday – Day 1

  • Opening Program

  • Virginia Tech Campus Tour

  • Volleyball Tournament

 

Monday – Day 2 – Claytor Lake State Park Trip

  • Lake Ecology Session

  • Fisheries Management

  • Water Quality

 

Highlights of Day 2 also include a forestry hike, shock fishing, swimming and a cookout.

Tuesday – Day 3

  • Cascades Hike – Hike to Cascades waterfall and investigate forestry and wildlife issues.

  • Tour Forest Products Center

  • Turfgrass Management Session

 

Wednesday – Day 4

  • Visit Virginia Tech Agricultural Farm – Learn agricultural best management practices including rotational grazing, alternative watering systems, nutrient management. Focus on agricultural stewardship.

  • Tour Dairy Science Center

  • Tour Swine Center

  • Tour College of Agriculture & Life Sciences

  • Soils Session

 

Thursday – Day 5 – Mountain Lake Field Trip

  • Visit Mountain Lake Field Trip – Participate in Karst Session, forest measurement information, and study wildlife research techniques

  • Tour Veterinary Teaching Hospital

 

Friday – Day 6

  • Canoeing on the New River

  • Stream Morphology Session

  • Scavenger Hunt Using GPS

 

Saturday – Day 7

  • Closing Program/Awards Presentation – Parents Invited

  • Check Out

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Cole Bohanon (Buckingham), Graceyn Cubbage and Annabelle Williamson (Cumberland),  Connor Bohanon (Buckingham) 

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