Natural Resources Conservation Workshop for Arizona Youth

Abstract

Rangelands E ach summer, a group of high-school students and natural-resource professionals pack up and head to the mountains of Arizona to spend a week together learning about the diverse resource base of the state. The Natural Resources Conservation Workshop for Arizona Youth (NRCWAY) provides students with an opportunity for handson learning in the field and professionals with the hope that some of the students will choose careers in natural resource fields. What the students don’t expect are some of the life-long friendships that are formed, the professional connections that are made during the week, and a new respect for differing opinions. The development of the NRCWAY dates back to the 1950s. At that time, the Arizona Association of Conservation Districts (AACD) learned of youth camps in other states and began developing plans for one in Arizona with help from the Arizona State Land Department and the University of Arizona. The first workshop was held in 1962 as a boys-only range and livestock management camp on the San Carlos Apache Reservation. This was a true outdoor experience complete with tents, cutting wood for the fire, and chuckwagon cooking. The workshop has moved to different locations with established facilities around the state since then and started accepting female participants in 1974. The Arizona Section, Society for Range Management, took over the role of planning and implementing the workshop in 1975. Since SRM’s direct involvement, the NRCWAY has been a program designed to introduce the concepts of naturalresource management to high-school age youth. Approximately 40 outstanding students who have expressed an interest in environmental issues have been selected each year to attend the workshop. The week-long program provides hands-on training in such areas as basic ecology, geology of Arizona, wildlife ecology and management, forestry, range management, soils, water resources, recreation, and watershed management. The program varies from year to year, depending on location, instructor availability, and current issues (ie, prolonged drought, wildfire threats, massive outbreaks of insects and related tree mortality). Instructors include professionals directly involved in resource management from private industry, state and federal agencies, and Arizona’s universities. The goal of the NRCWAY is to introduce students to different disciplines of natural resources and career opportunities. Program objectives focus on the students learning that 1) natural resources are sustainable, 2) all land-management activities and natural resources are interrelated, 3) management decisions are made based on science, and 4) the public Natural Resources Conservation Workshop for Arizona Youth