The 46th Annual Nebraska Range Youth Camp is scheduled for June 8 thru June 12, 2009, at the Nebraska State 4-H Camp, located in the Nebraska National Forest near Halsey, Nebraska.  

The Camp is intended to be a blend of educational and recreational activities, with the primary emphasis being on Range, Livestock and Ranch Management in the Nebraska Sandhills.  

Each camper will receive a notebook of reference materials as well as classroom and field experience.  The camp is open to all interested young men and women between the age of 14 and 18 with an interest in Nebraska’s most extensive natural resource, rangelands.

Mary Reece of North Platte and a former Co-Director of the camp said, “The Nebraska Range Youth Camp is one of the oldest and best inter-agency youth range management training programs in the Great Plains.” She added that, “Professionals from range related agencies and organizations volunteer their time as instructors and counselors.”

The camp program has evolved over the years into a combination of classroom, field and recreational experiences that educate and entertain both the youth that have very little experience with range education and those that have participated in range education while maintaining a high level of recreational activities to keep the young people alert and interested in the program.  

University of Nebraska Extension Specialists and volunteers from other agencies provide classroom presentations.  

The recreational activities include canoeing the Middle Loup River, swimming, various relays, and group and individual contests.  

Awards are provided to the top 10 first year campers and to the top returning camper.  

The top 15 campers overall are eligible to compete for two or three paid sponsorships, made available by the Nebraska Section Society for Range Management, to attend the International Society for Range Management meeting in February and participate as Nebraska’s delegates to the SRM Youth Forum activities held in conjunction with that meeting.

The cost of the week long camp is $275.00, which includes room, meals, and materials for the week.  Additional information about the camp is available from local Extension, Natural Resource Districts, Natural Resource Conservation Service Offices, high school Ag-Ed instructors or the Camp Co-Directors listed below.  

Information is also available on the Nebraska Section SRM website or www.ianr.unl.edu/srm.

The Nebraska Range Youth Camp is one of the activities of the Nebraska Section-Society for Range Management.  

For additional information about the camp, contact one of the Co-Directors for this years camp – Cynthia Tusler, PO Box 373, HAY SPRINGS, NE  69347, (308) 327-2312 or Daryl Cisney, PO Box 266, Ogallala, NE 69153 - 0266, (308) 284-8058.