LITTLE ROCK — Arkansans do a great job of promoting young people who excel on the athletic field, in the band, as cheerleaders or as beauty-pageant entrants. But there should be a way to recognize young people’s service in our parks and to agencies that work to preserve the beauty of the Natural State.
Traveling around the state while birdwatching, I’ve encountered a surprising number of dedicated, service-minded teens who have been drawn outdoors through curiosity about birds. No single youth group organizes them in any formal way. And yet these high schoolers volunteer, intern or work at state parks, nature centers, wildlife management areas or in their schools, communities and homes.
Many agencies and youth organizations do a noble job in promoting introductory outdoor activities and brief bouts of volunteerism. But these young people go above and beyond. They become teen naturalists.It bugs me to know they fly beneath the radar of recognition.
There are enough of these outstanding youngsters to justify an awards program. I would call them “State Champions of Conservation.”
Agency directors, park interpreters and other experts could nominate teens they see giving their time. An independent committee could then select finalists from the nominees.
To illustrate the kind of achievement I’m talking about, here are just a few of the praiseworthy young people I’ve encountered this year. These would be my finalists.
HALIE ELLIS
Halie Ellis, 18, traces her interest in conservation to Paula Johnson, who teaches advanced placement environmental science and physics at Bryant High School.
Ellis is a senior at Bryant High, president of the Ecology Club and a member of the Future Business Leaders of America and the National Honor Society. She is the daughter of Alison and Colin Stangeby.
An intern at the Arkansas Audubon Center in Little Rock, Ellis tends a native plant and butterfly garden. She demonstrates how native plants can be grown as decoration around homes, replacing troublesome invasive species.
Native plants nourish bugs and birds, and the garden does not rely on insecticides, herbicides or commercial fertilizers. She uses a watering system that recaptures water falling from the roof of the building.
“My parents are all about reducing the carbon footprint left by our home,” she says. “We recycle newspapers, plastics, cans and cardboard boxes. We raise our own vegetables and we compost.”
She plans to become an environmental engineer after college.
DREYKUS LOWE
Dreykus Lowe, 18, started at the Audubon Center in the summer of 2009 as a participant in the Little Rock Summer Job Alliance, for which he helped lead field-science programs in wetlands and forests.
The Little Rock Central High School senior, the son of Karen Lowe, determined that kids his age needed to understand more about their environment. So he started filming videos for public service announcements and helped design a video titled Talkin’ Trash.
The video won third place in a national Friends for Change contest for grants sponsored by National Audubon Society and the Disney Foundation. The grant money purchased equipment, training and supervision for making other outdoor videos.
After the summer job ended, he continued to volunteer at the Audubon Center on Springer Boulevard near Gillam Park in Little Rock. He has contributed to the writing, editing and production of videos that address the relationship between humans and their environment. He has worked on videos covering these topics: protecting Little Rock’s drinking water from litter and runoff; reducing trash by promoting recycling; the limits of landfill space; Granite Mountain residents’ feelings about their connection to nature;
Audubon designated Important Bird Areas and why they deserve protection; and the efforts of teens who documented the BP oil spill.
Lowe says he’s done all this because he was simply curious about nature. His mother encourages him, he says, but conservation work is not a passion she shares. He takes as many science classes as he can and is squeezing his volunteer work in between studies and running track. He plans to attend the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville and become a chemical engineer. He hopes his degree will allow him to work on environmental projects such as cleaning up toxic wastes.
COLTON BUTLER
Colton Butler, 17, is the son of Kyle and Terri Butler of England - and he’s my grandson. He is in the 11th grade at Central Arkansas Christian school in North Little Rock.
He is a part-time paid employee at Toltec Mounds Archeological State Park, working mostly in the summer and on weekends. Butler assisted in the rescue, rehabilitation and release of three owlets near the park. He also believes that hunting non-native species contributes to wildlife protection, and so he bought his first hunting license and duck stamp last year.
He and his brother are systematically removing feral hogs from his family’s lease near Gurdon, hunting the animals using bows and arrows. Not native to Arkansas forests, feral hogs eat eggs of ground-nesting native birds like quail, turkey, short-eared owls and roadrunners.
He also goes after invasive big-headed carp with his bow.
He’s interested in American Indian hunting methods and is making a longbow.
And he and friends from church pulled thousands of invasive false chamomile last summer from roadsides and parks. These weeds compete with native plants that support insects and birds.
AMBER RAY
Amber Ray, 18, has been interning at the Audubon Nature Center since the 10th grade. The Little Rock Central High school senior is the daughter of Lynda Willis.
Much of Ray’s work has been directed at measuring and comparing the water quality of Rock Creek to Swaggerty Creek. Both are tributaries to Fourche Creek. All three streams run through Little Rock. Rock Creek’s watershed is mostly an area of single-family dwellings and commercial property, whereas Swaggerty’s watershed includes downtown.
“I’ve enjoyed this project particularly because it is a hands-on thing and it keeps me outdoors,” Ray says. She plans a career in medicine and eventually hopes to attend Washington University in St. Louis after earning an undergraduate degree in some field of science at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.
MITCHELL PRUITT
Mitchell Pruitt, 16, is a regular visitor and volunteer at Crowley’s Ridge State Park and Nature Center near his home. The son of Ken and Kathleen Pruitt, he is a junior at Valley View High School near Jonesboro and is soon to become an Eagle Scout. As a sixth-grader he attended the Halberg Ecology Camp held annually near Mount Ida.
Pruitt has created a checklist of the birds in Crowley’s Ridge State Park, photographed most of them and records the dates of migratory bird appearances and departures. He posts his sightings on e-Bird.org, an Internet database that is used by ornithologists to study bird populations and migration.
He leads visitors at the Nature Center on the boardwalk and paths of the nature trail and is able to identify most birds by their songs. He can also identify many of the butterflies and native plants in the park by their common names and in some instances by their scientific names. At school, Pruitt takes advanced placement math and physics classes. He adds to his school day regular trips to wilderness areas to observe animal and bird behavior. He plans a career in environmental engineering.
WYATT CALDWELL
Wyatt Caldwell, 15, helped organize his EAST Initiative team to monitor thousands of purple martins roosting at Bird Island on Lake Ouachita during July and August.
The son of Sheldon and Kimberly Caldwell, he is a ninth-grader at Mountain Pine High School. He and fellow student Eli Smith produced an award-winning documentary film about Bird Island.
Caldwell worked with Audubon Arkansas to complete the two-year documentation that led to the site’s being named an internationally recognized Important Bird Area. This designation will enable more protection for the island and is expected to attract tourists. Wyatt hopes to continue his use of technology to promote conservation as a career.
Family, Pages 33 on 01/05/2011