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A Gift of Awareness
This summer I thrived on a fantastic "gift of awareness" while attending a
National Wildlife Federation CONSERVATION SUMMIT held at
Estes Park, Colorado, near the heart of the Rocky Mountain National Park.
Combining the natural beauty, enthusiastic instructors, and fun activities,
it was the greatest adventure ever. What made it so great? Let's look at
one of my "usual" days at the Summit.
Breakfast over, my first class was "Edible Plants", led by a professor
of botany. We explored and sampled the area's abundant natural foods. The
berries were down in no time, and it really got interesting -- milkweed
shoots, cattails, dandelion greens, and stinging nettle!
With that snack aside, next came "Fresh Water Biology". With all the
equipment provided, including hip boots, we took off for the Wind River. By
working in pairs, one upstream turning over rocks, the other downstream
manning the screen, we collected our waterlife samples. Returning to camp
and to a dozen microscopes, we identified algae, stone flies, mayflies and
others in their different stages of metamorphosis.
"Nature Photography" followed lunch. A slide show and a dozen
photographic pointers later, we started across the surrounding fields.
Passing beaver dams along the way, we ended up at a hummingbird's nest --
at a convenient eye-level, no less. Not only did the mother hummingbird
approach the nest, she also fed her two young as our beginning photography
class "oooed and aahed" in delight. On the way back we found a woodpecker's
nest, also with young. Now this was Nature Photography! How excited
I was for the morning Bird Walk the next day!
How do you describe an adventure so fantastic as the SUMMIT? How fabulously
exciting it is to scout out and follow the "grass highways" of the meadow
mouse, or lie flat out to examine the delicate alpine plants of mountain
peaks! Then you appreciate the vivacious world surrounding you. Thanks to
Utah Nature Study Society; and Thank You, National Wildlife Federation
Summit, for stimulating this awareness in me.
by Debra Brown, Age 17 years
UNSS 1973 Scholarship Winner
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