WOW! (Wonders of Wildlife) 10/10 would read again!

This is my first real blog update, NEAT!

I’ve been here in St. Louis for over a month now and I’ve learned a lot.

In terms of my site, I’ve learned the basics of the local history relating to the construction of the Arch and the Old Courthouse as well as the importance of the Dred Scott Case in contributing to the unrest that would eventually lead to the Civil War and the movement to end slavery. I’ve read a lot about the fur-trading mountain men and their enormous contribution to the Westward expansion of our country (as well as their less than agreeable relationship with the Plains tribes of Native Americans). I’ve also settled into the city as a whole quite nicely; there’s plenty to do here: live music, great vinyl shops, community events, and good food…pinpointing the city’s best BBQ may take all 9 months.

In terms of my role as a CVA , I’ve had the chance of making some pretty sweet connections already. This is the part of my internship I’ve been most looking forward to, the part where I get to go to events that I’d want to check out anyways (urban cycling initiatives, trash pick up days, and local food movements to name a few). Albeit, with the goal of making connections and furthering the Park’s goals and partnerships of course…but still, most of its been pretty fun so far.

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We’ve got a lot of events being planned, but here’s two cool things that we’ve done so far:

First off is the Great Mississippi River Cleanup put on by Living Lands and Waters.

An organization committed to cleaning up our country’s rivers and waterways. I HIGHLY recommend that you look into the founder, Chad Pregracke’s, story. He is living proof that one person can make an enormous difference, even if all you have at the time is what’s already in front of you.

This event was like 100% in my wheelhouse, that wheelhouse being environmentalism and free food.

Essentially, we volunteers sped up and down the Mississippi River in a fleet of speed boats picking up garbage along the banks. We bagged it, threw it on LL&W’s trash barge to be disposed of properly, and then all sat down to eat together.

Still hoping for a coining of the term “Gar-Barge”

Perhaps the most exciting part about this event was talking with LL&W’s awesome staff about the possibility for a partnership with our park. Most of the day we worked in areas that had the Arch in clear view, so I thought..why are we not doing something with this organization already? LL&W is here every year working right next to us. The Mississippi River is almost literally on the front steps* of our park grounds.

See expertly crafted MS Paint diagram above*

So long story short, one of my projects this year will be creating a bi-annual cleanup project along our river banks. Essentially we will “Adopt a Mile” of Mississippi River adjacent to our park. By the end of my time here my goal is to have established a partner relationship with LL&W while at the same time setting up this program in a way that park volunteers will continue to lead this annual effort even after I’m gone!

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Secondly, last weekend our department helped host the Wonders of Wildlife school (WOW),an outdoor conservation education school that provides outdoor experiences for inner city children and their families. This program offers a lot to kids in several cities around the country. At our St. Louis WOW, we offered sessions on archery, outdoor cooking, tent set up, birdhouse building, bird watching, fishing, geocaching, canoeing, kayaking, and a monarch butterfly lesson.

My supervisor  and I set up and operated the archery station for most of the day, which was a blast. Hitting the target was a huge confidence boost for these kids, with most of them (and their parents) asking us where the nearest range was.

The weekend was a success as far as I could tell, with a lot of the kids itching to participate in anything and everything we were offering. At one point I had three kids arguing over who got to help me hammer their tent stakes in…like the least exciting part of the entire weekend, but the kids were jazzed nonetheless. At the end of the day I felt satisfied in the fact that, in some small way, I helped influence future conservationists. A cause that needs all the help it can get right now.

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There’s plenty of other projects I could talk about in the works, but I’ll wait till they actually happen to do so. Peace.

Bryce Yoder
Centennial Volunteer Ambassador
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial
St. Louis, Missouri

Whole ‘Lotta Acronyms

Alright, so my title here at the park is a bit confusing so here’s a short post to get you up to speed about what I’ll be doing.

For the National Park Service’s 100 year anniversary, the Student Conservation Association (SCA) has developed Centennial Volunteer Ambassador (CVA) positions for parks all around the country. I am serving at the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial (JNEM) in downtown St. Louis. The goal of the program is to build a larger constituency for the park system by strengthening public engagement, creating programs and partnerships with local organizations to get new demographics involved, and increasing the size of our volunteer base so that our park can continue to grow after our service terms are over.

In terms of concrete numbers and stats, my personal goals as a CVA at this park are to:

• Increase the number of volunteers by 10%
• Increase the number of on-going partnerships with organizations by 3
• Conduct or attend 10 or more new outreach events and increase community member engagement by 10%
• Create more than a 5% increase in volunteer output (specific work/accomplishments achieved by volunteers)
• To be deliberate in engaging with underrepresented groups and new demographics

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“To connect people to parks in the next century, the NPS must develop and nurture life-long connections between the public and parks – especially for young people”. – A Call to Action, 2013

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This being my third park service gig, I’ve seen first hand how important volunteers are to the functioning and efficiency of our parks. In the summer of 2014 I was one of those volunteers; I was part of the electrofishing crew at Shenandoah National Park in Luray, Virginia. Growing up and living in Harrisonburg, Virginia, I’ve spent a lot of time at this park. I  camped with my family, hiked, backpacked, and learned how to fly fish here.

Being a part of the volunteer program in Shenandoah National Park was extremely fulfilling. I got marketable on-the job experience in the field of conservation biology, further clarified my career goals, and met some really awesome folks. This led me to pursue an internship with the SCA at Yosemite National Park in CA last fall (which I could talk about forever..but I won’t here), and ultimately my position here in St. Louis. I hope to use this service term to provide volunteers with opportunities to plug into their community and find equally fulfilling volunteer roles.

Things will be different here, as I’ve never worked in an urban park  before. However, I’m excited to bring my knowledge and passion for wildlife conservation and environmental sustainability to this new setting and give back by starting some really cool programs!

Updates coming soon…

 

Bryce Y.

Centennial Volunteer Ambassador

Jefferson National Expansion Memorial

St. Louis, MO