Natural Resource Days

One of the grand heritiges of the Okmulgee County Conservation District is the Natural Resource Days they have provided to the fifth grade students of Okmulgee County. It is a day that they remember and talk about for years. For some it is their first opportunity to go fishing, for others it is that first impression and lasting lesson of natural resource conservation. It is an event whose reputation preceeds it. While the Natural Resource Day is an annual event, it takes four days over the course of a school year to reach all the students in the county. The Natural Resource Days are open to public, private and homeschooled students.

 

Scott Grant of Tulsa County Conservation District demonstrates how macro invertebrate collection to helps to determine the health of a creek or stream

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rick McCright, NRCS Soil Scientist (now retired) demonstrates soil sampling and explains the layers of soil obtained with the soil probe truck

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bruce Burton from the Okmulgee Wildlife Refuge (Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation) brings his reptile collection.

 

 

 

 

 

Cheryl Cheadle, using a watershed enviroscape shows how contaminants such as motor oil, antifreeze and excessive amounts of chemical fertilizers, herbicides and pesticides end up in our creeks and lakes. Cheryl is the state director of the Oklahoma Conservation Commission's BlueThumb program

 

 

 

 

 

Dena Powers (4H director at Okmulgee OSU Extension) and Rick Clovis (Creek Nation 4H) demonstrates the benefits of a reparian area along a stream bank and the hazards of soil erosion