2014 Project Descriptions

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Alabama Scenic River Trail Riverkids Program Expansion Madison, AL 2014 Project Descriptions In 2013, the Alabama Scenic River Trail launched RiverKids to give every child in the state the

Youth are instructed on boat operation and safe conduct and taught to steer and propel boats with their paddles.

1 Alabama Scenic River Trail Riverkids Program Expansion Madison, AL 2014 Project Descriptions In 2013, the Alabama Scenic River Trail launched RiverKids to give every child in the state the opportunity to learn to paddle with an emphasis on education, safety and ongoing stewardship. Youth are instructed on boat operation and safe conduct and taught to steer and propel boats with their paddles. An introduction to kayaking on dry land is followed by an in-the-water experience focused on getting comfortable in the water and steering the boat. Although the program has been successful, the boats are too big for smaller children ages seven to nine. The Paddle Nation grant will fund the addition of two smaller boats at nine learning centers, making it possible to spread the love of paddling to some of our youngest budding outdoor enthusiasts. Number of Participants: potential thousands (an ongoing program); Number of Youth: all; Hours Spent Outside: 8 per person on the first training level Austin Explore, Inc. (dba Explore Austin) Buffalo River Summer Wilderness Trip Austin, TX Explore Austin equips underserved youth with skills to succeed not only in the rocky landscape of the outdoors, but also on the uneven and unpredictable terrain of life. As part of a six-year mentoring and outdoor adventure program, the youth Explorers learn to thrive in unfamiliar situations and work as a team. Adolescent Explorers participate in the Buffalo River Summer Wilderness Trip, practicing canoeing and kayaking skills throughout the year leading up to a weeklong, 50-mile excursion down the Buffalo River in Arkansas. The goal is for the paddling skills and connection to the river to be cherished throughout their remaining years as Explorers, instilling a lifelong love for the serene yet exciting adventures on the water. Number of Participants: 80; Number of Youth: 60; Hours Spent Outside: 198

2 Big Brothers Big Sisters of Athens County, Inc. Teamwork on the Water: Strouds Run State Park Mini-Camp Athens, OH Big Brothers Big Sisters of Athens, Inc. serves at-risk youth between the ages of five and 17. Since paddling is an excellent team activity in which cooperation and communication are the key, Big Brothers Big Sisters will bring 20 youth and their adult mentors to Strouds Run State Park in Athens County for two days of canoeing and team-building. Under the supervision of Big Brothers Big Sisters staff and an Ohio Certified Volunteer Naturalist, these underprivileged youth will enjoy a day of healthy, outdoor recreation that will inspire a greater understanding of the skills required to succeed in school and in life. Number of Participants: 40; Number of Youth: 20; Hours Spent Outside: 560 Cacapon Institute (CI) Stream Scholar's Summer Camp 2014 High View, WV From the Cacapon River to the Potomac to the Chesapeake Bay, CI protects rivers and watersheds using science and education. The Stream Scholars Summer Camp supports this mission by providing a week of hands-on science and education. This action-filled camp teaches stream and watershed science, including water quality testing, macroinvertebrate sampling and the importance of conservation. CI will provide three paddling trips on the Cacapon and Potomac Rivers and the Chesapeake Bay that will go beyond recreational paddling to add environmental education. On each trip, scholars will take water quality measurements and meet river guides and conservationists. Number of Participants: 21; Number of Youth: 16; Hours Spent Outside: 840 Casco Bay High School Casco Bay High School Freshman and Senior Quests Portland, ME The Casco Bay Quest is an innovative orientation experience for all freshmen and seniors at Casco Bay High School. Quests promote community, citizenship and leadership through writing, kayaking and adventure-based learning. Part of an innovative model of expeditionary learning, freshman and seniors take part in intensive four-day expeditions on Cow Island in Casco Bay. Students embark on sea kayaking expeditions; engage in leadership and team building activities; and develop critical thinking skills through reflective writing. A hallmark of Casco Bay High School, quests introduce students to expeditionary learning and help forge community among students that sustain them through crucial transition years. Number of Participants: 180; Number of Youth: 165; Hours Spent Outside: 15,120

3 Friends of the Kaw (FOK) Keeping the Dream Alive: Connecting Underserved Students with the Kansas River National Water Trail Lawrence, KS FOK is a grassroots, nonprofit conservation organization whose mission is to protect and preserve the Kansas River, known locally as the Kaw, for present and future generations. FOK will partner with Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site, managed by the National Park Service, and Freedom s Frontier National Heritage Area to engage 200 at-risk fourth and fifth grade students in a half-day paddling experience as part of a series of five week-long camp programs. The program will connect local youth with America s Great Outdoors, especially the Kansas River Water Trail, and increase outdoor fitness. Number of Participants: 300; Number of Youth: 200; Hours Spent Outside: 1,500 Friends of the St. Croix Headwaters, Inc. Eco Adventure Gordon, WI Eco Adventure provides an opportunity to immerse students in the wonders of the great outdoors and the water resources located in their own backyards. Rural middle school students from northwestern Wisconsin will be taken on a two-day canoeing adventure. For many students, this will be their first time on a river and may be their first time for outdoor reflection. The immersive experience includes an overnight camp and lesson modules, including river safety, aquatic plants and macroinvertebrates, Namekagon River history, water-quality and fly-fishing. The project is based on the experiential progression of awareness, understanding, appreciation and celebration. Number of Participants: 50; Number of Youth: 32; Hours Spent Outside: 3,200 Garfield High School Establishing a Kayak Outing Program at GHS Seattle, WA POST, a student-run outdoor education program within Garfield High School, organizes more than a dozen trips annually for the Garfield community and other Seattle Public School students. Staffed by sixty Garfield High School students, the program works to foster youth leadership through various outdoor excursions and helps students connect with other youth with whom they normally may not engage. POST gives youth from every socio-economic background a chance to explore their outdoor interests, and for some, this may be their first outdoor experience. The Paddle Nation grant will support POST s long-lasting kayak program, funding trip scholarships for low-income students and kayak safety gear. This includes kayak training courses, as well as radios, waterproof bags, bilge pumps, towropes and paddle floats. Number of Participants: 60; Number of Youth: 50; Hours Spent Outside: 3,600

4 Georgia River Network Paddle Georgia 2014 Youth Program: Ripple Effect Athens, GA Ripple Effect will bring 12 science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) students from underserved, urban populations to join more than 350 other paddlers for Paddle Georgia, a weeklong canoe and kayak trip on the Chattahoochee River through metro Atlanta. Paddle Georgia is a unique and innovative annual paddling event that takes place on a one hundred-mile segment of a Georgia river and includes a campout. While the routes showcase the natural diversity and beauty of Georgia's waterways, they also include segments that illustrate threats to the health of river systems from industry, agriculture, residential and recreational development and other human interventions. Number of Participants: 16; Number of Youth: 12; Hours Spent Outside: 1,600 H2O Trash Patrol Stand Up for Clean Waterways Encinitas, CA Stand Up for Clean Waterways promotes standing up for the environment, while utilizing stand up paddleboards as its platform. H2O Trash Patrol hosts two publicly attended waterway cleanups per month where more than 60 youth and young adult volunteers remove marine debris from the waterways, lagoons, harbors and bays via standup paddleboards. Not only is it a great way to remove marine litter from hard-to-reach places, it is also a fantastic way to build community, improve the environment and get a great workout all while leaving little to no carbon footprint. To date, H2O Trash Patrol has spent 1,769 hours cleaning up waterways and removed 1,498 pounds of marine debris from six waterways. The Paddle Nation grant will help continue these efforts and engage even more community members in the project. The grant will also support the Marine Science Eco-Camp, a summer program that inspires children ages six to 14 to get outdoors and includes stand up paddleboard lessons. Number of Participants: ; Number of Youth: 30-70; Hours Spent Outside: 200-2,000 International Wildlife Refuge Alliance Paddleon the River: Outdoor Recreation and Learning at the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge Grosse Ile, MI The International Wildlife Refuge Alliance, in partnership with Riverside Kayak Connection and the Downriver Linked Greenways Initiative, will host a paddling workshop on the Detroit River and some of its tributaries to introduce local underserved youth to the natural history and riparian ecology of the Detroit River. While often thought of primarily as a shipping channel and working river, the Detroit River offers diverse shoreline ecosystems, dazzling wildlife viewing and complex history that many do not

5 know. This project will expose participants to the abundant wildlife habitat and recreational amenity available to them right in their backyards and provide a fun experience to encourage increased use of the Detroit River and the Detroit River International Wildlife Refuge for recreational paddling. Number of Participants: 75; Number of Youth: 50; Hours Spent Outside: 225 Missouri State University Ozark Scenic and National River/Missouri State University Volunteer Water Patrol Springfield, MO The National Park Service s Ozark National Scenic Riverways and Missouri State University will work together to train future Millennial leaders in outdoor recreation while providing enhanced safety and education for visitors of Ozark National Scenic Riverways. The Volunteer Water Patrol is a grassroots effort by Missouri State University Outdoor Recreation to support National Park Service staff and park visitors. The Volunteer Water Patrol will help monitor the river and improve the visitor experience by providing basic information to the more than one million visitors. In addition, these trained volunteers will be on the water passing out water, t-shirts and Leave No Trace information. Number of Participants: 3,000; Number of Youth: 650; Hours Spent Outside: 580 Rocky Mountain Youth Corps Rocky Mountain Youth Corps Rafts the Rio Ranch De Taos Rocky Mountain Youth Corps (RMYC) inspires young adults to make a difference in themselves and their communities. Each year, more than 100 opportunity youth, young adults ages 16 to 25 who are neither employed nor in school, engage in meaningful environmental stewardship projects through AmeriCorps. This summer, RMYC will also offer these youth the opportunity to experience the Rio Grande and Rio Chama Wild and Scenic Rivers. During a full day rafting adventure on one of New Mexico's Wild and Scenic Rivers, these youth most of who have never been down a river will have the chance to connect to their local watersheds while enhancing their understanding of the landscapes and communities of northern New Mexico. Number of Participants: 115; Number of Youth: 105; Hours Spent Outside: 1,150 Rutabaga Outdoor Programs Community Outreach Madison, WI Each year, Rutabaga Outdoor Programs partners with community groups throughout the Madison area to get local youth out on the water. To ensure that paddling programs reach

6 young people with limited resources, need-based scholarships are provided to community groups to help offset programming costs. This year, with help from the Paddle Nation grant, outreach programs will offer more paddling opportunities at three community centers. Over the eight-week program, students cover safety awareness and basic paddling skills, play games, take trips, explore the wetlands and build comfort and confidence on the water. Although students focus on canoeing, they also learn how to kayak and stand up paddle. Number of Participants: 75; Number of Youth: 68; Hours Spent Outside: 5,100 Salt Lake City Foundation Jordan River Youth Ambassadors Salt Lake City, UT Jordan River Youth Ambassadors use recreational paddling as a vehicle for low-income and underserved youth in Salt Lake City to build the skills and knowledge to enjoy riparian recreation opportunities the rest of their lives and serve as emissaries for the conservation and stewardship of the Jordan River. The ambassadors will connect youth to recreational paddling through a variety of outdoor activities multiple float trips, parkway and stream cleanups, bike rides, fishing, water quality sampling and wildlife identification. Building upon their experiential knowledge, the ambassadors will use digital photography, simple mapping and graphic design to gather content for the design of a Jordan River Recreation Map. Number of Participants: 48; Number of Youth: 40; Hours Spent Outside: 4,800 Sebago Canoe Club Sebago Canoe Club: Youth Paddling on Jamaica Bay Brooklyn, NY Thirty experienced members of Sebago Canoe Club, including ACA-certified instructors, will lead canoe and kayak trips on Jamaica Bay for six to eight local youth groups. Family canoe paddles will also be offered on summer weekends. Working with partners including local public schools, summer day camps and youth organizations, the canoe club will host six to eight groups of up to 22 youth ages 12 to 18 during the months of June, July and August. Students will attend a short dry land introduction to safety and basic technique, then get out on the water for two to three hours of paddling. Youth and families from many of Brooklyn's most challenged neighborhoods will have an instructive, safe and fun introduction to paddling in their own home waters. Number of Participants: 140; Number of Youth:120; Hours Spent Outside: 840

7 Upper Delaware Preservation Coalition Delaware River Sojourn: Youth Development Scholarships Lackawaxen, PA The Delaware River Sojourn is celebrating its twentieth year of guiding paddlers of all ages and experience levels on a seven-day adventure on the Wild and Scenic Delaware River. By paddling in each section (upper, middle, lower, and estuary), and taking side trips on the historical canals, tidal marshes and tributaries, participants learn about ecology. They are also understand how the river ties to local communities and how to become stewards of this great resource for future generations. The Paddle Nation grant will allow the Delaware River Sojourn to offer scholarships to disadvantaged youth. Each scholarship will provide a kayak and gear, safety instruction, breakfast, lunch, shuttle and fun and educational activities for one day on the river. An optional overnight camping is also included. Number of Participants: ; Number of Youth:47; Hours Spent Outside: 10 hours/person/day; 20/person if camping

Floating the Buffalo National River. with First River Outfitter. Michelle Hulett. exp2010_w01h3buffalo2_ann_solution

Floating the Buffalo National River with First River Outfitter Michelle Hulett The Buffalo River Beginning as just a trickle, The Buffalo National River runs down the Boston Mountains, flows north and