Sponsored by the Maryland Association of Forest Conservancy District Boards and the DNR Forest Service, the 2004 Forestry and Natural Resources Careers Week will be held July 26-29 at the Hickory Environmental Education Center in the picturesque mountains of Garrett County. Counselors and instructors will include DNR foresters, rangers, biologists, educators and other professionals. Over the course of the week, students participate in hands-on workshops, problem-solving lessons, field trips, and evening programs that include a career and college night. "It's a busy week but a lot of fun," notes Pam Kelly, Forestry Board Executive Director. "High school students from many different backgrounds participate, but their interest in natural resources brings them together." 30 Years of Success
Mark Muir was a Harford County high school student interested in outdoor careers when he attended the camp in 1988. "It was great to be exposed to many different conservation careers and learn from the experts," he recalls. "I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in forestry, and now I work with some of the same counselors I met at camp." Muir attended Allegany College and West Virginia University, and is now Project Manager for the DNR Forest Service in Charles and St. Mary's Counties, helping landowners manage and conserve their forests for a variety of benefits. |
 Up to 48 students are selected to attend the camp each year, with two or three students chosen from each of Maryland's 23 counties and Baltimore City by local county forestry boards. Many local forestry boards like to interview students who apply and most offer scholarships so students can attend at no cost! Counselors and staff provide transportation to Camp Hickory. An application for the 2004 Careers Week Camp is available online by visiting www.dnr.maryland.gov/forests. The deadline for applications is April 15, 2004. !
For more information about: The DNR Forest Service www.dnr.maryland.gov/forests Maryland's Forest Conservancy District Boards www.mdforest.sailorsite.net/ fcdb.html DNR's Conservation Education Programs www.dnr.maryland.gov/education The Hickory Environmental Education Center in Garrett County www.ga.k12.md.us/Schools/ Hickory.
(From: "Who works in this Forest?" activity from Project Learning Tree Environmental Education Activity Guide, American Forest Foundation. Used with permission.) |
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The beauty
of Garrett County and her experiences at camp as both a student and counselor
influenced Queen Anne's High School alumnus Sarah Crouse's life-changing
decisions. "One of the biggest stepping stones in my life was 'Camp Hickory,'"
Sarah says about her participation in 1994. "After high school, I returned to
camp as an assistant counselor and went up to Garrett College to ask about their
Natural Resources and Wildlife Technology program. I enrolled on the spot."
Virginia Tech junior Ben Bradburn attended the camp several years ago and met one of his future professors at its College Night event. "After talking one-on-one, I knew that Virginia Tech's College of Natural Resources was right for me." He explains, "Camp Hickory definitely helped me make decisions about my future." Now at the top of his class in the College of Forestry and the recipient of several scholarships, Ben is planning on spending his summer in a cooperative learning program with a forest products company.
Will Williams... | |
Using
magazines and newspapers (which are forest products also!) create a collage of
photos showing how people depend on Maryland's forests. Your collage can include
pictures of forests, trees, people living near forests, forest products, people
using forests or products, and people working in forests. Be able to explain the
importance of each photo in your collage and how it benefits your life or
Maryland's environment every day! 
The
land management exercises she participated in during camp proved enormously
useful, as Sarah is now a Resource Management Specialist with the State Forest
and Park Service in western Maryland, working with waterfront property owners in
the state-managed buffer strip along Deep Creek Lake.
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