Students learning outdoors skills, environmental stewardship lessons at summer camp
RIPLEY, W.Va. – Nearly 200 students aged 11 to 14 from across West Virginia will be at Cedar Lakes Conference Center in Jackson County June 19-23 for the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection’s (WVDEP) annual Junior Conservation Camp.
At camp students will learn fishing, canoeing, wilderness first aid, and other outdoors lessons. Division of Natural Resources (DNR) Conservation Officers will be at camp to teach firearm and hunting safety and Division of Forestry experts will teach lessons on identifying plants and trees. The Capitol Conservation District’s Soil Tunnel Trailer, which shows students how plants form their roots and how fossils are formed, will be parked at the camp for the entire week.
Junior Conservation Camp began as a program of the DNR in 1980, but is now administered by the WVDEP’s Youth Environmental Program.
The camp is made possible through the generous donations of businesses such as Toyota, conservation districts across the state, and numerous civic organizations such as Lions Clubs and Women’s Clubs.