Sanctuary Team Becomes Campers for a Week at the 4-H Great Lakes and Natural Resources Camp.

Date: August 4, 2007
Entry by: Heather Hohman, Summer Fellowship Program, Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary

The Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary enjoys continually creating new partnerships, especially with educational and youth groups. One such program we are interested in collaborating with is the 4-H Great Lakes and Natural Resources Camp. This week, members of the sanctuary visited the camp and participated in many of their education and recreation sessions. Our goal this week, was to observe the types of projects the 4-H Camp offers and explore opportunities to create a session in the future.

Camp Chickagami

Overlooking beautiful Lake Esau on Presque Isle, Camp Chickagami is the perfect setting for an environmental camp, like the 4-H Great Lakes and Natural Resources Camp. The premises offer lakeside access for kayaking, canoeing, snorkeling, fishing, and swimming activities, along with trails that have an abundance of wildlife and forestry. Within a few miles of the private camp, are two lighthouses, Grand Lake, and Lake Huron, which offers snorkel opportunities on shallow shipwrecks. Clearly, there is no shortage of fun and outdoor activity at Camp Chickagami. Throughout the summer, Camp Chickagami leases for recreation, education, or religious camps- this week it is the 4-H Great Lakes and Natural Resources Camp that enjoyed their stay.

The 4-H Great Lakes and Natural Resources Camp is designed for 13-15 year olds interested in natural and environmental causes. The camp offers activities for campers to experience and enjoy these resources, paralleled with creating awareness, appreciation, and understanding. Each day splits into two sessions- morning and afternoon. After breakfast, each of the five groups (named for the Great Lakes), breaks into their morning session, which focuses on a natural or environmental theme. The afternoon sessions offer a variety of recreational activities that the campers choose individually each morning before breakfast.

The groups rotate five educational morning sessions throughout the week. These sessions are, "Great Lakes Costal Processes", "Great Lakes Charter Fishing", "Great Lakes Watersheds", "Great Lakes Forestry and Wildlife", and "Great Lakes Wetlands". Each day this week, members of the Sanctuary Education and Outreach Team, visited the camp and participated in one of these activities.

On Monday, Heather Hohman participated in the Great Lakes Watersheds session with the Lake Ontario group. The campers piled into two boats, driven by Camp Advisor, Brad Harnick, to a spot in Lake Esau to make observations. Darren Bagley of Michigan States Extension Fish and Wildlife Program led the session about environmental factors that affect the Great Lakes and the ways scientists measure clarity, P.h. and oxygen levels, and plankton in the water. The campers used scientific methods and tools to take these measurements. At the end of the session, campers had an opportunity to learn to drive the boats.

Ashley Deming participated in the Coastal Processes session with the Lake Michigan group on Wednesday. They traveled to Thompson State Park and discussed water currents, geology, glacial movements, and shipwrecks in the area.  The group also visited the old and new Presque Isle Lighthouses where they heard the history of the haunting in the old lighthouse. The campers toured and participated in a scavenger hunt at the new Presque Isle Lighthouse.  From the lighthouse tower, the campers imagined what it was like for ships in the area in the 18th century.
On Thursday, Sarah Newman took her turn at Camp Chickagami. She joined the campers from the Lake Huron group for an informational session about Great Lakes wildlife. The campers learned a lot about the mammals, birds, and reptiles found in the Michigan area. The camp is not the usual classroom atmosphere, as participants felt feathers and furs from local birds and animals, handled a snake, peeked in on sleeping bats, and trapped and released a chipmunk and a deer mouse.

The last morning session visited was the Great Lakes Fisheries on Friday. Lindsey Thomas joined the returning campers of the Lake Ontario group. Campers new to Camp Chickagami went on a Charter Fishing excursion. The remaining campers caught fish with a large sampling net then identified and measured the fish. The group also collected aquatic insects and water plants for a better understanding of the local environment. At the end of the morning, the group met back at camp and graphed their results to compare the findings with the other Lake Groups throughout the week.

After the morning sessions, the campers have personal time and then meet for lunch and announcements, and finally head off to their chosen recreation session. The afternoon sessions range from water sports like- fishing, sailing, snorkeling, and kayaking to arts and crafts, hiking, and photography. Total, there are twenty-two recreational afternoon activities to choose from throughout the week. In one such session, campers from various groups donned their snorkeling gear and made their way out the wreck of the Albany, a side-wheeler that sank off Presque Isle in 1853. The campers trudged through muddy bog and picked their way over slippery rocks out to the wreck site, to view the enormous timbers and double frames of the remaining section of the bilge. It was well worth the efforts. The campers also put to use the new knowledge they gained from their morning sessions to identify various fish species seen among the Albany?Äôs wreckage.
One of the afternoon recreation activities offered Tuesday, was a field trip to the Great Lakes Maritime Heritage Center and Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary. Ashley Deming, Heather Hohman, and Sarah Newman gave a tour of the Heritage Center and discussed the types of vessels within the sanctuary, preservation and archaeology methods, and other programs NOAA overseas using the "Science on Sphere exhibi". At the end of tour, the campers paired up for a "Sanctuary Search". We gave each group a list of fill-in-blank statements about the sanctuary and set them free in the Heritage Center to find the answers on displays, exhibits, and artifact tags. Next year, we hope to increase our direct presence at the camp and create a session designed specifically for 4-H.

We had a great time at camp getting wet and muddy. At the end of the day, we wanted to stay, sit around the campfire, roast marshmallows, and tell scary stories of the sea captains who haunt the lakes. The campers?Äô excitement and enthusiasm to learn about the Great Lakes encourages us to create a session in the future about archaeology and preservation of shipwrecks in the region.

The 4-H Great Lakes and Natural Resources Camp is sponsored by Michigan 4-H Youth Development, Michigan 4-H Foundation and its Donors, Michigan Sea Grant Extension Program, Michigan State University Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, and MSU Department of Community, Agriculture, Recreation, and Resource Studies. For more information about the 4-H Great Lakes and Natural Resources Camp or Camp Chickagami, contact Program Leader, Judy Ratkos, email: ratkos@msue.msu.edu or by phone, (517) 432-7613.

4H at Camp Chicagami	Marine life experiments	What lives in this water?