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The Eco-Explorers program is a partnership of the BLM Campbell Creek Science Center, Catholic Social Services and the Environmental Resources Management Foundation. It aims to deepen a sense of place, belonging and ownership for the refugee community through experiences on public land.

Kids in the program run the gamut of experience with Western culture, said Elizabeth Krauszer, Catholic Social Services refugee assistance and immigration services interim director. Some come to America with no formal schooling and little exposure to the language. Others have parents with master's degrees and are fluent in English.

One thing most have in common is a different perspective on the outdoors.

"The idea of outdoor education is a little bit foreign," Krauszer said. "Recreation is a privilege when you're not getting your basic needs met."

Catholic Social Services, the only refugee resettlement agency in Alaska, typically welcomes about 130 people per year who are fleeing their homelands due to war or persecution. Most of the refugees have left countries in Africa—Somalia, Sudan, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo—but they also come from Iraq, Mexico, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar (Burma) and the former Soviet Union.

The Environmental Resources Management Foundation provided the grant, which sponsored the development of the Eco-Explorer program and provided bus transportation for all participants. Emmy Zartman, a volunteer with the ERM Foundation, says the organization strives to educate the community about environmental issues and empower people, especially women and girls, to be confident in the outdoors.

"It was really great to see that a program can overcome language and cultural barriers and provide meaningful lessons on our environment," said Kassi Murray, also with the ERM Foundation.

Eco-Explorers blends environmental education with traditional camp activities. On the first day, as a group of younger children inspected seeds under microscopes, the older kids prepared to go geocaching, an outdoor treasure hunt using GPS devices.

Hand-held GPS units lead the group under a canopy of birch and spruce, across uneven, mossy hummocks and fallen logs and through thickets of highbush cranberry and prickly rose.

Soon, the distance meter on the GPS fell under 10 feet.

"It's here! I found it!"

The kids pulled a large plastic acorn from a tree branch. They gently inspected the contents—pencils, stickers, a small toy car—tickled by the thought of treasure in the woods.

Later, the older group learned how to start a fire with flint and steel, which everyone accomplished after some time and words of encouragement in Somali, Swahili, Dinka, Arabic and Spanish.

At the end of the day, the kids came together for an All-American camp tradition: kickball. The older kids helped the little ones roll pitches. A tall girl, one hand gripping her long skirt, the other holding tight to her headcovering, smashed the ball and rounded the bases, ducking under an attempt to throw her out. The kids kept score with enthusiasm, but most had the same question.

"Can we play soccer now?"

Among these global citizens, soccer is a common language.

During the next two days, the kids followed a map to evidence of Alaska animals—squirrel nests, moose browse, beaver chew. They ran curious fingers over whale baleen, lynx fur and porcupine quills. They didn't see a bear, and that suited everyone just fine. They waded into the creek to look for spawning salmon and insects under the rocks.

And yes, they played soccer, a raucous game between kids and instructors and volunteers, a bridge from their old lives to the land of their new home.

The very first YES event in 2007 was a success and has continued to grow and improve each year. Now, ten years later, YES is still attracting a variety of unique students in grades Kindergarten through eight who are ready to learn about the amazing area they live in. This year's event was held in Kenny Lake, Alaska focused on career opportunities within natural resources and land management. Instructors from the BLM-Alaska Glennallen Field Office and Campbell Creek Science Center partnered with other local agencies to teach students about the possible careers opportunities that could bring some of the "Alaska loving youth" back to the Copper River Basin.

During the three-day event students took part in a variety of different outdoor based lessons. Educators from the BLM-Alaska Campbell Creek Science Center helped students study macroinvertebrates in Willow Creek. Students donned their waders and used D-nets and microscopes to find and examine insects and determine that the creek was healthy based on the multiple kinds of macroinvertebrates they found!

A representative from the Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge showed students how biologists use animal collaring technology to track wildlife such as the Alaskan Lynx. Students were able to use the tracking device to locate an active collar that instructors had hidden in the woods earlier that day. Younger students also explored the animal kingdom through an Alaskan version of tag called "Lynx and Hares".

Instructors from the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium demonstrated the detrimental effects pollution can have on communities and what students can do to prevent the accumulation of litter. In this session, students created their own 'village' within a sand box and then were able to see what happens when trash was spread throughout their community and into the water systems.

The Wrangell Institute for Science and Environment (WISE) used a stream table provided by the BLM Glennallen Field Office to teach students how water shapes a landscape. Using the stream table and plastic sand beads, students explored geological terms such as 'erosion' and 'delta.' WISE also took students on a nature hike on the Kenny lake School Bluff trail and taught students about different plants and animals they encountered along the way including a mother grouse and her chicks!

Lamby Brusuelas, a veteran Trails Day volunteer, brought her children to help them develop a sense to community and stewardship of their public lands.  

"You are more respectful to the vegetation and to the trails when you have a stake in it," she said as she and her children pulled weeds in the native plant gardens. "You have ownership in the work that goes into it."

Fostering that sense of stewardship is exactly what National Trails Day is all about, said BLM Anchorage Assistant Field Manager Doug Ballou.  

"Part of helping manage public land is to get young people and anyone involved as stewards of the land and have them give back to the land. Hopefully, this builds appreciation for using land and people will use it more gently."

When the projects were completed and the tools put away, the volunteers gathered for a pizza lunch provided by the Friends of the Campbell Creek Science Center.  REI provided T-shirts and door prizes.  The day wrapped up with a demonstration of the effective use of bear spray by the Campbell Creek Science Center's School Programs Coordinator, Eric Stuart.

Volunteers help BLM Celebrate National Trails Day - The BLM Daily

Discover the wonder of your own backyard with the BLM Campbell Creek Science Center.

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Learn about the Friends of the Campbell Creek Science Center

Members of the Alaska Reindeer Council, university professors from Alaska and Finland, and reindeer herders from Alaska and Norway were invited to present on a variety of topics, including herding techniques, ungulate diseases, lassoing, and the importance of taking a landscape approach to rangeland management. BLM Natural Resources Specialist Laurie Thorpe was invited to share what she learned at a recent conference in Norway on Arctic ungulates and economic development.

"The summit provided a great opportunity to develop a shared understanding of the challenges facing reindeer herders and land managers throughout the Arctic." Thorpe said.

The BLM manages about 4 million of the approximately 12.5 million acres of land used for reindeer grazing on the Seward Peninsula of northwest Alaska. There are currently about 8,000 reindeer on the Seward Peninsula – about half the number currently authorized there. Industry experts say the industry has the potential to grow to well over 50,000 animals.

"You have the very best reindeer pastures in the world," Anders Oskal, a Saami reindeer herder from Norway and Executive Director of the International Centre for Reindeer Husbandry, told the gathering. Oskal is also co-lead of the Arctic Indigenous Peoples Culinary Institute and indigenous foods played a big role at the summit. Participants attended sessions on butchering, meal preparation, and use of local plants and animals. There were also presentations on the use of non-edible parts of the reindeer for making jewelry, clothing, tools, and art.