By Brad Fisher, Public Affairs Specialist
Right now, USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service is sharing the agency’s conservation expertise with more than 42,000 scouts at the National Boy Scout Jamboree at Fort A.P. Hill, Virginia. Scout jamborees are always jammed with excitement, but this one is extra special – a celebration of BSA’s 100th anniversary. Congratulations BSA from everyone at NRCS on your century of service and adventure!
“NRCS is thrilled to be part of this amazing event,” said NRCS Chief Dave White, touring the jamboree. “It’s great being here and meeting so many of our nation’s future conservation leaders.”
NRCS, now celebrating its 75th anniversary, is supporting the jamboree in a big way with more than 40 employees and Earth Team volunteers (some from as far away as Pago Pago) staffing exhibits and giving lessons in conservation.
NRCS expects more than 27,000 scouts to take to the jamboree’s Conservation Trail, featuring the agency’s 3-acre site that spotlights the benefits of healthy soils, clean air and water, the importance of pollinators, and how everyone can incorporate conservation into their daily lives.
Adding to conservation education NRCS-style are soil stations where scouts build mini-soil profiles to take home and learn lessons about soil erosion. A scout who completes the NRCS stations earns credit toward a Soil and Water Conservation merit badge. Many thanks to folks from Virginia’s Hanover Soil and Water Conservation District who are here to help scouts finish up their badge requirements.
“The scouts are about conservation”, Chief White added. “We’re proud to be a partner with BSA on its Conservation Good Turn, an effort that’s bringing the benefits of natural resources conservation to communities throughout the country.”
NRCS conservation contingent takes Fort A.P. Hill. NRCS staff and Earth Team volunteers from across the country and the Pacific, along with conservation district employees, (pictured here with agency Chief Dave White in pale blue shirt) offer their conservation expertise to 42,000 scouts at the National Boy Scout Jamboree.