6/5/2007

Outdoor Journey for Girls has Openings at Summer Camps

The Iowa Department of Natural Resources and Iowa Women in Natural Resources is hosting three outdoor skills camp this summer for girls age 12 to 15. Called Outdoor Journey (OJ) for Girls, these camps introduce outdoor skills, like canoeing, fishing and camping, to girls in a supportive, hands-on environment.

Activities are led by experts in their field, allowing participants to leave with a newfound confidence in the activity. Instructors are DNR conservation officers, biologists and other personnel, county conservation board naturalists and representatives from other agencies like the Natural Resource Conservation Service and Iowa State University.

The first camp is June 13 - 15, at Springbrook Conservation Education Center, north of Guthrie Center. New this year is a camp offered at Black Hawk County Conservation Boards Hickory Hills Park, near Waterloo, on July 17 - 19. The final camp is Aug. 1-3, at Springbrook Conservation Education Center.

Participants must fill out a form available on the Iowa DNR's website. Go to www.iowadnr.gov, then click on Springbrook Conservation Education Center in the left column toward the bottom. Next, click on camps and workshops and finally on Outdoor Journey for Girls. Send the completed form and a check for $100 to the address on the bottom of the form.

There are occasions for Pheasants Forever (PF) chapters and other supporting organizations from across the state to provide full or partial sponsorships for participants, even if they are from outside their own counties. For information on potential sponsorships, send an email to outdoorjourneyia@yahoo.com or PF representative Andrea Evelsizer at 319-665-3841 or aevelsizer@pheasantsforever.org.

More than 1,500 girls have participated in OJ since it began in 1992.