Local students learn about conservation
Waupaca County Conservation Field Day will be held Friday, Sept. 27, at Hartman Creek State Park.
Golden Sands Resource Conservation and Development Council organizes the annual event.
The field day draws more than 300 fifth-grade students from Waupaca Middle School, Manawa Elementary School, Christ Lutheran School, Marion and Clintonville Middle School.
Field Day offers students 20 hands-on field stations, each highlighting a different conservation concept or career.
Field stations cover a wide variety of topics including aquatic insects, composting, conservation law enforcement, soils, agriculture, wildlife, forestry, wetlands, geo-caching and more.
The students spend the day at the park, rotating through stations.
They also have the opportunity to hike the park’s trails during the lunch break.
A field journal is provided for students to record their experiences and observations from the event.
Field stations are facilitated by local natural resource professionals who volunteer their time from organizations including the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Golden Sands RC&D, Quantum Dairy, Waupaca County Solid Waste and Recycling, Waupaca County Land and Water Conservation Department (LWCD), Friends of Hartman State Creek Park and UW-Extension.
This is the 13th year Golden Sands RC&D is coordinating the event.
The event is sponsored by the Waupaca County LWCD, Friends of Hartman Creek State Park, Parfreyville United Methodist Church, and the Waupaca County Chapter of Whitetails Unlimited. Additional sponsors are needed to ensure the event continues in the future.