Murray & Whitfield youth join for 4-H2O summer day camp

The Conasauga Watershed is one of the smallest and yet is the most biologically diverse watershed when compared to the likes of the Columbia Watershed or the Colorado watershed. It holds around 90 different fish species, 12 of which are federally listed as threatened or endangered and where only 25 of the original 42 species of freshwater mussel are left. Murray and Whitfield 4-H’ers join up for a week of fun and education during 4-H2O camp to learn about the environment in which they live and how they can care for it while educating others at the same time. Day 1 consists of Fort Mountain Water Wizards, where youth engage in Project WET experiments like Neutral Nancy and Build-a-Buoy then take a canoe safety course. Day 2 takes place at the Warnell School of Forestry Cohutta Fish Hatchery so 4-H’ers can do a little fishing in their ponds, tour the hatchery, learning about river sturgeon, and then attend Adopt-A-Stream training for biochemical water monitoring. Day 3 is a day of service where Murray 4-H canoes down the Conasauga, cleaning up trash in and along the banks of the river while Whitfield 4-H cleans some of the tributaries in their county, like McLellan Creek and Tar Creek. Day 4 is a fun day at the Tennessee Aquarium, following the habitat exhibits through both River Journey and Ocean Journey, learning about the animals, fish, amphibians, reptiles, insects and birds that live along our rivers and oceans.