By CHRISTOPHER KING
Moapa Valley Progress
The people of Moapa Valley can feel a little safer on the trails with the newly sworn-in Junior Rangers out there to help. The Junior Rangers, who were guided by members of the BLM and Partners in Conservation, had to finish five activities in order to become Junior Rangers on Saturday, May 19 at Logandale Trails.
The Junior Rangers first activity was OHV Safety. The young rangers-in-training learned what equipment they needed to be able to safely go out on a trail. These items included helmets, gloves and eye protection. The rangers then went out on a trail, and had to use their sense of sight, smell, touch and sound to learn about the trails and to write it down in their Logandale Trails Adventure Book. The youngsters could write down wildlife they saw or heard, or rocks they touched.
From there the group moved on to camp fire safety. The members from BLM Las Vegas Field office and Partners in Conservation taught the young participants how to ensure there is a five foot perimeter of soil around a campfire space. If there is no metal ring, surround the camp fire with rocks to contain the fire. The children then learned how to safely put out a campfire before they go to sleep to help prevent a fire spreading throughout the area.
The next activity was learning about the desert tortoise. The participants got to meet a real live desert tortoise named Albert. They learned what he liked to eat, what he looks like, how he moved. They also learned how they could help protect the desert tortoises, like keeping the ground clear so it does not attract ravens that prey on young tortoises.
The Junior Ranger participants came back to a picnic table to work on their Logandale Trails Adventure Book on a TREAD Lightly activity. This activity was a good way to summarize what they had learned and how they can care for the environment. For example, stay on trails and to tell someone where they will be hiking in case they get lost. The participants had to reflect on what they did to TREAD Lightly that day.
The last thing the participants had to do before they could be sworn in as Junior Rangers was a stewardship program. The participants were instructed to leave the park better than they found it, so they searched for trash and litter that had been left behind. Each participant was given a trash bag and were sent out to pick up as much trash as they could find.
Once the stewardship program was complete, the participants were sworn in as Junior Rangers! The new Rangers took their pledge and pinned on their badges and they left Logandale Trails as successful Junior Rangers.
