Fifth-graders from seven central Arkansas counties will learn about Arkansas wildlife and conservation at the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission’s Youth Outdoor Expo, April 27-28, at Lake Sylvia Recreation Area.
Events start at 8:45 a.m. and run until 2:15 p.m. each day in the Ouachita National Forest, about 30 miles west of Little Rock. Stations feature instructors who teach about biology, archery, BB guns and fishing. The biology station, for instance, focuses on scientific management of wildlife.
“We’re trying to say if you’re interested in studying songbirds or whatever, you may be able to contribute and turn that into a job,” said Eric DeVries, an AGFC regional education coordinator who organizes the event. “The stress is on scientific management. They’re all fifth-graders; they are at a good age – impressionable and curious.”
Kids learn to fire compound bows and BB guns, and learn to fish with cane poles. Groups of students stop at each station for 45 minutes.
The expo also includes a “fair” with demonstrations about safe boating, a herpetology station, the AGFC Dive Team, AGFC wildlife officers with decoys used to catch poachers, and the AGFC mobile aquarium. This year’s expo will include a cannon net for catching wild turkey.
“What I love most about the expo is that we are introducing kids to life-long active hobbies – step away from the video games and get outside. There is a whole world waiting to be explored.”
This will be the third expo at Lake Sylvia. It’s at capacity with 2,000 students – 1,000 each day. The first AGFC expo in 2007 drew 500 students to Petit Jean Mountain.
“When we had 500 students, we realized we could make this a whole lot bigger,” DeVries said.
The USDA Forest Service is a major partner in the event, along with Arkansas Tech University, University of Arkansas at Little Rock, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff, University of Central Arkansas, Pulaski County Master Gardeners, Gems Ambulance of Perryville and the Arkansas Game and Fish Foundation.
Students from the following elementary schools are scheduled to attend:
Bigelow
Boone Park (North Little Rock)
Bryant
Crestwood (NLR)
Glen Rose (Malvern)
Greenbrier
Greenbrier Westside
Immaculate Conception (NLR)
Jessieville
Perryville
Poyen
Pulaski Heights (Little Rock)
Southside Bee Branch
Sylvan Hills (Sherwood)
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission