U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIORBUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
"City Kids" explore the forest with BLM Youth Staff
Young adults in the BLM Youth Initiative Incentive program pitched in to support California State Parks for summer environmental education. Campers ages 8-13 from the San Bernardino Unified School District CAPS (Creative Afterschool Program for Success) program enjoyed several days in the forest and a variety of outdoor learning activities.
BLM’s youth crew worked with Mount San Jacinto State Park staff and volunteers to provide a wide range of experiences about Leave No Trace (LNT) ethics, mammal skins and skulls, pine trees, geology and bird behaviors. Though the group was large -- over 80 campers per day -- for many it was their first visit to a forest. For all, it was memorable.
More than 12,000 children at 48 school sites in San Bernardino and Highland attend the CAPS program.
- Tracy Albrecht, interpretive specialist, Santa Rosa and San Jacinto Mountains National Monument/BLM Palm Springs South Coast Field Office (July 2012)