The Call of the Wild
April 1st, 2009 by stacey greenberg
Photos by Chip Chockley
It’s Saturday morning, and the Great Outdoors University (GOU) is in session. This week, the ScoutReach arm of the Boy Scouts of America are exploring the Hatchie Wildlife Refuge with their scout leaders, GOU staff, and volunteers from UT Martin’s Wildlife Studies Program.
The GOU is a youth conservation education program of the Tennessee Wildlife Federation (TWF), whose mission is to connect kids with the environment in meaningful, life-changing ways. Locally, kids ages 7 to 17 participate, many from urban neighborhoods far removed from open fields and forests.
GOU selects accessible places within an hour’s drive of Memphis, like Shelby Farms, Shelby Forest, the Wolf River, Mud Island, Winchester Farm, and the Hatchie Wildlife Refuge, to introduce children to another world. “We want the kids to spend time outside with their friends and guiding adults and have so much fun they’ll want to do it again,” says Martha Lyle Ford, GOU’s director.
Because of busy schedules, sprawling suburbs, and safety concerns, many children today spend less time outdoors than those of a generation ago. Even when parents are receptive to outdoor play, the draw of electronics frequently keeps kids “plugged in” instead.
z
Richard Louv, best-selling author of Last Child in the Woods, coined the term “nature deficit disorder” to describe kids today who spend little time connecting with nature. “Nature deficit disorder is not specific to Memphis,” observes Ford. “It’s a significant issue in all communities and it crosses all socio-economic levels.”
After a brief discussion about careers managing natural resources, the scouts head over to a nearby observation deck in the hopes of spotting a bald eagle or Canada goose, which are commonly seen at the Hatchie. Along the banks of a man-made lake, a few boys eagerly explore the terrain
.
“I see a snake hole over here,” one of them announces.
A UT student comes over to investigate. “How do you think the snake dug the hole?” he asks inquisitively. The scout ponders briefly, “His tongue? His tail?” The student smiles. “There might be a snake in that hole, but he didn’t dig it. He couldn’t,” he says. “It was probably a crawdad.”
While this sinks in, another volunteer leader comes over with a roly poly to show off.
“Cool! Can I touch it?” asks the scout.
Minute by minute, discoveries emerge. A water lotus, a feather, a scratched-up tree, everywhere the boys turn, there’s a mystery to be solved. The volunteer leaders are patient, knowledgeable, and in possession of Leathermans in case they need to cut open a pod or something for further investigation.
GOU partners with organizations that are already working with kids. They provide programming, ranging from hiking and horseback riding to gardening, with minimal costs every Saturday. The partnering agencies: ScoutReach, Girls, Inc., St. George’s, and Bridges, USA, sign up at the beginning of the year.
GOU’s field trip coordinator, Teresa Moody, hands out homemade name-tag necklaces she’s fashioned from a sliver of a tree branch and yarn. As she leads a group around the lake, she carries a Southeastern field guide. Every so often, she stops and asks the group to identify a tree or a vine.
The book comes in handy when the boys spy a trio of turtles. The smaller two are quickly identified as Red-eared sliders, but the bigger one proves more difficult. As Moody flips through her book, a volunteer leader explains what to look for when trying to identify turtles: the shell patterns, feet markings, etc.
“That’s the biggest tortoise I’ve ever seen!” exclaims one of the scouts.
“Can I touch it?” asks another.
The volunteer warns that the turtle could potentially bite off a finger, but lets the kids touch the shell from a safe angle, pointing out its webbed feet and long claws. When the kids seem apprehensive, he reassures them the turtle, a river cooter, is likely more scared than they are.
After they finish exploring a nearby dam, it’s time for lunch and reflection. Today the group will write about why it’s important for kids to spend time in nature. (Other activities include arts and crafts or recycling projects.)
Ford says such excursions, while simple, can be extraordinary. That point is made clear when the scouts find so many questions to ask just walking around a lake. “We hope to inspire the kids to spend more time outdoors and eventually become informed and responsible stewards of our natural resources,” says Ford.
In addition to weekly day trips, GOU offers weekend trips to the Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky four times a year. They also hope to launch a family outreach initiative this year, involving parents or other significant adults in the children’s lives. “We really want to give families information and support so that they can do trips on their own,” says Ford.
To learn more about Great Outdoors University, contact director Martha Lyle Ford, (731) 780-6737 at the Tennessee Wildlife Federation, mlford@tnwf.org.