| Pacific
Northwest Region Boise, Idaho October 7, 2002 |
Contacts:
Dave Walsh - 378-5026 |
150th Eagle Scout Project at Lake Cascade
Brzzz..brrzz..…the screeching sounds of an electric drill break the quiet stillness of an autumn afternoon at Lake Cascade.
Perched twelve feet up in the trees are two teenagers holding wooden crates, some screws, and a drill. A gaggle of teens stabilize the ladder, shouting directions to the kids above them.
Meet Troop 314 of Meridian, Idaho led by Eagle Scout Aaron Barney. They're mounting wood duck boxes on birch and pine trees near the Lake Cascade shoreline. A few hours of their hard work will mean new homes will be ready and waiting for wood ducks looking to nest in the area next spring.
Barney is leading the 150th Eagle Scout project since 1995 at Lake Cascade, according to Warren Sedlacek, natural resource specialist with the Bureau of Reclamation. Sedlacek says that scouts locally and regionally are responsible for the lions' share of independent conservation projects around the reservoir.
Over the last seven years, dozens of scouts have improved habitat for creatures big and small around Cascade. These projects include: installing nest boxes and goose platforms, planting willows, seeding wetlands, thinning forests , stabilizing eroded areas, removing over 10 miles of barbed wire, and building bat boxes and owl platforms.
Sedlacek is proud of the work the scouts do and estimates each project saves about an average of $1200 in tax dollars that would otherwise be spent on hiring contractors or Reclamation staff.
"They're independent, motivated and a lot of fun to work with," says Sedlacek. "They plan each project, find donated materials and organize scouts from their own troop to make it happen."
Sedlacek says he knows the hard work and leadership experience sticks with them.
"I think it's a good way to help the environment because the ducks need a home just like we have a home," says Matt Booth, 14, senior patrol leader.
And for some scouts, these conservation projects have become a family tradition. Like his older brothers, Travis and Jacob, who installed goose platforms, Aaron Barney is doing his part by creating homes for wood ducks.
"It might be a lot more work than other projects, but it gets you away from home and we work in the woods," says Aaron. Barney says the boxes took no time to build with his six scout crew. But he spent over 200 hours planning, gathering materials and building the boxes, an Eagle Scout requirement.
His dad, Greg Barney, says they enjoy this kind of work, too. "Other troop members have done blood drives, computers for schools and other things. But our kids like the outdoors," says Barney. "They appreciate what these ducks are trying to do -make a nest in the wild. Because there's not much old timber or dead woods in this area, it's got to help out."
Barney is right. According to Sedlacek, the duck boxes replace habitat lost to firewood harvesting. "Wood ducks love old trees," says Sedlacek, "but they're pretty scarce. These boxes are mounted up high and away from predators. They have some wood chip bedding and are just the right size for the ducks to slip in."
Sedlacek says the 151st
Eagle Scout project, owl nests, begins in late October. For more information
on how your organization can help out, call Warren at 208-382-4258 or email
him at wsedlacek @pn.usbr.gov.
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