Conservation Project Ideas

[TLSinTN]

I am in need of conservation project ideas. This is our first year being leaders and was wondering what everyone else is doing as a conservation project to get the World Conservation Award.

Thanks!

[eisely]

Please tell us a little more about where you live. Conservation projects obviously vary by climate and terrain and are very local. In Southern California, our cub scout pack got involved in reforestation after some particularly bad fires. Where we live now, stream restoration and cleanup is more common and always needed.

[TLSinTN]

We are located in Tennessee, eastern side of Nashville.

[eisely]

After I posted my original reply, I realized there was much more to say. Since these kinds of activities normally fall under the responsibility of governmental agencies and are done on public lands, you need to think of all the federal, state, and local agencies in your area that you can contact. I would start locally with your park district or flood control district if there is one.

 

Larger corporations that have significant real estate holdings would probably love cub scout involvement, and provide all the other resources to boot. What about reclamation projects on strip mined land? These often involve reforestation at some stage of reclamation, and the mining companies would love the favorable publicity of a bunch of cub scouts in uniform planting seedlings provided by the company. Think of the major coal mining companies in your area. Hope this helps.

[frankj]

Contact an office of the National Resource Conservation Service. This is an agency of the United States Dept of Agriculture and it was formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service. They will probably have information and landowner contact for different types of projects in the area. Look in the phone book where federal government offices are listed. Most of NCRS offices serve a single county or 2-3 small counties. If there are large, industrial landowners in your area, they might have on-going reclamation projects. Your troop or district might want to establish a relationship with one or more such companies in order to have a place to go in future years.