Penn State Extension offers a new
program to teach youth about forests and the concept of good forest
stewardship.
If we are going to have productive
and healthy forests in the future, we need future forest stewards today. This
is the reason Penn State Extension is offering a new, free program to teach
youth about forests and the concept of forest stewardship. The program, Future
Forest Steward is a successor to the Junior Forest Steward Program they offered
for 10 years with great success. Focusing on youth to embrace forest
stewardship today is nothing new to Extension.
According to Sanford Smith, Penn
State Extension natural resources and youth-education specialist, Pennsylvania
youth often know very little about the forests and natural areas that cover the
state. “We have been committed to getting kids excited about, and interested in
Penn's Woods for many years,” he says.
Future Forest Steward is designed for
implementation by teachers, youth-group leaders, and other adults working with
youth. Penn State Extension is now seeking interested adults to help facilitate
the program. “The adults we need do not have to be naturalists or forestry
experts to carry out the Future Forest Steward program,” Smith explains. “An
interest and willingness to learn right along with youth is the only thing we
require. The program is suitable for both formal and non-formal educational
settings.”
The program format is also flexible.
Young participants 1) read an interactive publication (individually or as a
group), 2) discuss the questions, and then 3) participate in a forest
stewardship activity led by the adult educator or helper. A guide for adults
accompanies the publication and provides answers to questions and ideas for
activities that participating youth and adults can undertake.
After participants complete the three
steps, their adult helpers send in a short “tally-sheet” and the youth receive
an embroidered Future Forest Steward patch as an award and reminder of what
they learned. The program raises awareness of forest stewardship and the
importance of being a steward of the natural world. “After all, today's Future
Forest Stewards will be responsible for the forests that give Pennsylvania its
very name, and they will pass them on to future generations,” said Smith.
For questions about the program,
contact Sanford Smith. To request copies of the Future Forest Steward
publication and adult guide, contact Penn State's Renewable Natural Resources
Extension Office at 814-863-0401 or RNRext@psu.edu. Downloadable versions of the curriculum
materials can also be found online.
Contact Sanford Smith
Email: sss5@psu.edu
Phone: 814-865-4261
No comments:
Post a Comment