BLM Continues Successful Partnership to Introduce Idaho Youth to Nature’s Classroom
School may be out for the summer, but nature's classroom is always in full session in northern Idaho! Just ask the sixty kids who participated in a series of Watchable Wildlife Nature Camps throughout July, hosted by the BLM and Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
This summer, campers each morning explored nature's classrooms at BLM's Blue Creek Bay recreation site within the 736-acre Wallace Forest Conservation Area and BLM's Mica Bay Boater Park along the shores of Lake Coeur d'Alene. Along the many forested trails at Blue Creek Bay, explorers sought signs of wildlife – tracks, bones, feathers and fur. And they learned about forest ecosystems as they listened for and identified bird sounds.
At Mica Bay Boater Park, campers waded in cool waters to beat the heat, and searched for insects, fish, snails and even a few crawdads. Here campers learned about aquatic ecosystems, which are plentiful in northern Idaho.
To escape the heat, campers spent late afternoons at the North Idaho Wildlife Education Center in Coeur d'Alene, with wildlife mounts ranging from woodland caribou to tiny pygmy owls and even a "bat room" that simulates a cave. The diverse assortment of raptors, owls, fish and mammals offered campers hands-on experiences, such as learning what owls eat by dissecting owl pellets. Campers looked for mouse bones and other interesting items that owls don't digest during just one of the fun and cool "classroom assignments" of camp.
-Suzanne Endsley, Public Affairs Specialist for BLM Idaho Coeur d'Alene District