During the week of June 26th to June 30th, the Schuylkill Conservation District will be hosting the third annual Schuylkill River Outreach Team (SROT) summer camp program.

The SROT is composed of nine students between the ages of 15-17 from throughout Schuylkill County. The Team will spend one week learning about and helping to improve the health of the watersheds in Schuylkill County.

For five days and four nights, the SROT will sleep beneath the stars and learn in a classroom with no walls. The SROT will travel throughout Schuylkill County for daylong projects and will stay each night at a different location in the county.

Tom Davidock, program coordinator, says, “There is no better way to learn about nature than to live it and experience it first hand.”

Participants will get involved in hands-on projects to improve the watershed and will share their weeklong experiences with others through a countywide public education project.

The students will participate in projects including building a stream table and kestrel box at Locust Lake State Park, canoeing down the Schuylkill River, installing fish habitat structures in West Creek near Llewellyn, and developing an environmental education plan for Sweet Arrow Lake County Park.

Area sponsors, including the Schuylkill Headwaters Association, Schuylkill County Conservancy, Schuylkill Sportsmen’s Association, Schuylkill County Trout Unlimited, Bear Creek Environmental Area, Northern Swatara Creek Watershed Association, Tri-Valley Watershed Association, Sweet Arrow Lake Conservation Association, Volunteers for Argall, Wiconisco Creek Watershed Association, and the Catawissa Creek Restoration Association have made the SROT possible.

For more information please contact Tom Davidock, Schuylkill Conservation District, at 570-622-4124 ext. 120 or email tdavidock@co.schuylkill.pa.us or visit the Schuylkill Watershed Conservation Plan webpage.

6/23/2006