August 2009 - Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources

A U G U S T 2 0 0 9
Meece Middle School visits
Camp Earl Wallace
Approximately 90 fifth graders and a
few teachers and chaperones from
Somerset’s Meece Middle School arrived
Friday, April 24, for their second annual
field trip to Camp Earl Wallace.
This year when CEPL Betty Lewis
returned to teach conservation, the teachers
were waiting anxiously to find out if
they could have the field trip again, exclaiming,
“We would even pay if we have
to!” The staff at Meece seems to have a
very high value for outdoor education and
have eagerly taken part in all KDFWR
programs offered.
When the buses arrived about midmorning,
the students were welcomed and
given instructions on what to expect for
the day. Students and teachers broke into
three groups and went in rotation to three
different activities planned and staffed by
KDFWR employees.
At the fishing dock they received basic
fishing instruction and got to fish with
Jamie Alton and Marc Johnson (both
with Aquatic Ed) and John Coffey.
For “Animal Adventures,” they had
lots of fun learning about animal artifacts
with Scott Couch and Thomas
Blackwell. While at “Outdoor Survival,”
they learned to “Hug a Tree” and build a
shoestring shelter with Betty Lewis and
Joyce Fitzgerald.
After the activities, the students ate
their school-prepared lunch in the cafeteria
and afterwards entertained everyone with
renditions of their lessons on Black Bears
in Kentucky. Great fun was had by all.
Over the weekend some parents from
Meece called to register their children for
Camp Earl Wallace for this summer.
“My teachers at Meece have stressed
that Outdoor Recreational Sports are so
very important to our young students,”
said Lewis. “Having the ability to add
the hands-on experiences to my school
programs with this field trip to camp offers
an invaluable chance for these students to
make a definite connection from the classroom
to the outdoors while having trained
staff ready to answer their questions. The
“Dix,” continued
11
WMA is flooded at times because it
is so flat and surrounded by the river
and streams. Normally, water on the
WMA’s fields is confined to wetland
impoundments that were designed by
KDFWR staff working together with
Ducks Unlimited, the Natural Resources
Conservation Service, U.S. Army
Corps of Engineers and the Kentucky
Division of Water.
Most of the WMA was historically
cropped. Drainage ditches and underground
tiles helped dry the area enough
during the growing season to allow
farmers to plant and harvest. To restore
the land’s original wetland functions,
some of these water diversions must be
removed or altered. In some cases, levees
(low dams) are constructed to help the
land hold water again.
Most of the wetland restoration on
Dix River WMA was made possible
by the Wetland Reserve Program, a
USDA program that helps landowners
with projects like this. A portion of
the wetland work done to date on the
WMA was funded through our Wetland
and Stream Mitigation Program.
Brian worked with Mike Hardin
and Doug Dawson from KDFWR’s
Environmental Section staff to design,
fund and construct projects.
Some of the wetlands have been
planted to bottomland hardwood trees,
which will provide important food
and cover to wildlife for generations to
come. Nesting boxes have been placed
around the WMA for wood ducks and
songbirds such as eastern bluebirds, tree
swallows and prothonotary warblers.
only way to improve on this is to have them
all come to camp this summer!”
Special thanks to all who helped
with this event and also to Camp Earl
Wallace’s Rockie Frost, Montie Frost
and John Cooper.