Webelos Walkabout
Veterans Day 2016 dawned bright and sunny with a wonderful breeze, and it was a day without school and a Friday to boot! Thus, the Webelos and Arrow of Light Scouts hit the hiking trails to enjoy a great day at the Arthur R. Marshall Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge. Our “three-hour tour” ended up being more like eight hours since no one (including us leaders) wanted to leave!
We started by reviewing the Six Cub Scouts Essentials for outings, and the Scouts each put together a personal first aid kit & slathered on sun screen before venturing onto the Marsh Trail.
We also reviewed the seven Leave No Trace Principles for Kids:
Know Before You Go (i.e., plan ahead)
Choose the Right Path (i.e., stay on the marked path & camp in designated areas)
Trash Your Trash (i.e., leave nothing but footprints)
Leave What You Find (i.e., take nothing but memories, do not damage plants, etc.)
Be Careful with Fire (i.e., use established fire rings, make small fires, extinguish completely)
Respect Wildlife (i.e., observe wildlife from a distance, don’t feed or bother them in their home)
Be Kind to Other Visitors (i.e., be respectful, avoid loud voices & noises (enjoy nature!)
To show that we really knew these principles and could use them, we first reviewed the map of the Refuge’s trails and planned where to hike. While following the Marsh Trail, we made sure we stayed on the path that had some gravel on it and we avoided wandering off into the brush and weeds along the path. Not only did that help maintain the wilderness and animals’ homes, it kept us out of red ant piles and away from any snakes and other critters who live in the brush. When it was time for snacks and lunch (critical things to have when you’re running around exploring!), we double checked that we picked up any wrappers and other trash we created. While hiking, we also used the plastic grocery bags we brought along to gather any garbage we found along the trail.
We saw some amazing creatures like alligators, deer, fish, a small snake, many different birds like limpets, a woodpecker, blue herons, egrets, vultures, & wood storks. Although we were all very excited to see the alligators and other cool animals, we tried our best to respect them and stay quiet. Different rocks and shells were abundant along the trail, but we followed the Leave No Trace Principles and took nothing but pictures and memories.
By following the Leave No Trace Principles for Kids, we were staying true to the Outdoor Code that we recited (& we’re trying to memorize) before our hike:
The Outdoor Code
As an American, I will do my best to:
Be Clean in my Outdoor Manners;
Be Careful with Fire;
Be Considerate in the Outdoors; and
Be Conservation-Minded.
To honor our promise to be conservation-minded, we performed a service project at the Refuge. We learned that Cypress trees were everywhere in the Everglades before man came along, and many of them have been lost as people built houses and planted the Everglades with sugar cane and other crops. In recent years, a local non-profit held an annual “Cypress Seed Harvest” event to educate the public about the Everglades while also having volunteers pluck the dry brown, marble-sized seeds from the Cypress trees in the Refuge. They then planted and nurtured the seeds for several years until they became large enough to be transplanted and survive on their own in the wildest parts of the Everglades.
Unfortunately, the non-profit group that ran the Cypress Seed Harvest and grew the seedlings had to shut its doors last spring after the death of its President, who was also the son of the late Arthur R. Marshall. We were asked to step in and help the tiny saplings survive. They were being overrun by weeds and weren’t getting enough light, nutrients, or water. We wandered into a field full of weeds, and only after intense scrutiny could we find the tiny seedlings with little neon orange ribbons on them. We worked hard to pull away the choking weeds and give the small trees a chance to survive. It was sweaty, dirty work, but we were very proud of ourselves and the work we accomplished after hiking more than three miles. There is much more to be done, and we’re hoping to return soon to help even more of these important trees. Maybe next time you can join us!