Time to apply for Nebraska Youth Range Camp

Students age 14 – 18 with an interest in learning about the outdoors are encouraged to attend the 53rd Nebraska Youth Range Camp that will be held June 6 – 10, 2016, at the Nebraska State 4-H Camp in Halsey.

The Nebraska Youth Range Camp consists of a four-and-a-half day dynamic curriculum that appeals to students with a wide array of interests including, but not limited to, rangeland management, conservation, ecology, animal science, and wildlife.

With over 50 years to perfect and evolve this curriculum, every student, no matter what prior experience they have, will learn substantial information that will help them become more aware of Nebraska's most prevalent landuse. Rangelands cover nearly 50 percent of Nebraska and approximately 60 percent of the United States. These numbers convey the dominance of this landuse, but recently there have been several political issues regarding the management of these rangelands. This further emphasizes the reason it is important to educate the youth so we may enable them to become proficient and effective leaders in resource management as well as educated voters.

The students that attend Range Camp will be actively involved with field activities, lectures, hand-on experience, and recreational leadership and team-building activities that are all led by up to 20 of Nebraska's most respected and dedicated leaders, teachers, and professionals from various agencies, colleges, and universities. Students will also prepare for the upcoming Range Judging season and be a step ahead of the competition.

The Range Judging Contest format will be changing this year and Range Camp students will be amongst the first to learn about all of these changes. Each student will be sent home with new friends, fun memories, a binder that is filled with educational materials, and a t-shirt.

Financial sponsorship is available. Every student that attended last year received a substantial level of sponsorship. Interested individuals can find more information, the Range Camp application, and the brochure by visiting the Nebraska Society for Range Management website at http://www.nesrm.org and then clicking on the Nebraska Youth Range Camp link on the left of the page or sending an email to [email protected].

Applications need to be submitted by May 27. Attendance is capped at 65 students; individuals will be selected on a first-come first-served basis.

Range Camp is an event that is made possible through the Nebraska Section of the Society for Range Management with assistance from several Nebraska ranches, the Nebraska Grazing Lands Coalition, the Sandhills Task Force, several of Nebraska's Natural Resource Districts, the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Extension Service, and many volunteers.