The OUTDOOR EDUCATOR

CENTRAL NEW YORK REGIONAL ENVIROTHON

The CNY Regional Envirothon last held the Envirothon at

Beaver Lake Nature Center in 2005 and we are excited to

return! The 200 acre glacial lake is surrounded by nine

miles of walking trails that can be traversed during any

season. Beaver Lake features a large interpretation cen-

ter for the entire family to enjoy! Outfitted with a view-

ing room, an auditorium, tons of bird and mammal

mounts , a gift shop, and an awesome kid friendly room

for the youngest of visitors. Beaver Lake Nature Center

holds over 400 nature programs every year including

guided bird walks, dendrology classes, and guided canoe

tours across the Lake. Those who enjoy outdoor activi-

ties other than hiking can snowshoe and cross country

ski parts of the trail system during the winter. Snowshoe

rentals are available, however, you must bring your own

skis. Snowshoeing and skiing not your thing? No prob-

lem! The center offers kayaks and canoe rentals during

the warmer months. How about learning T’ai Chi Chih or

get together with your peers for some hiking and yoga?

November 2015

Mark your calendars! The 2016 Central

New York Regional Envirothon will be

held on April 20, 2016 at the Beaver Lake

Nature Center in Baldwinsville, New York.

Highland Forest Park was a natural fit to hold the 2014 and 2015 CNY

Regional Envirothon Event. The vast trail system, the beautiful lodge,

and the gorgeous view matched perfectly to host the outdoor event.

On April 29, 2015, 32 Envirothon teams from 18 school districts attended

the event to compete in five areas of study; aquatics, soils, wildlife, for-

estry, current environmental issue. The current environmental issue test

and the oral presentation were based upon the topic, “Urban Forestry.”

The 2015 winner hailed from Skaneateles High School, with a total score

of 489.75 out of a possible 600 points. Earners of the second highest

overall score, the Bark Busters, scored 444.75 and represented

Weedsport High School. The third place overall winners, the Fantastic

Fouresters from Bainbridge-Guilford High School, earned a total score

of 431.75. Congratulations to all of our teams, advisors, volunteers and

judges for a wonderful event.

There are several wellness programs offered as well.

What a wonderful place to learn something new! Of

course, these activities have a nominal fee associated,

but you can always become a member for some great

deals. Beaver Lake truly has something for everyone,

visit their website for exciting information on what the

center has to offer, www.onondagacountyparks.com/

parks/beaver-lake-nature-center

Photo courtesy of Edmund Ressler of Central New York Hiking.

Visit cnyhiking.com for more information and beautiful pictures!

During the autumn months, squirrels in the Northeast are busy filling their

caches with seeds, acorns, hickory nuts, beech nuts and walnuts. While

hiking in the woods and even driving around in your car, you might think

these animals are going, nuts! But in fact, squirrels are interesting animals

and highly adaptive to their surroundings. Here are some surprising facts

about our foraging forest friends:

There are 285 species of squirrels on the planet and can be found in near-

ly every habitat on Earth, except for the North and South Pole.

Squirrels help certain tree species to reproduce by expanding their disper-

sal area by burying acorns, walnuts and other forages. During one season,

a squirrel can bury thousands of nuts and seeds and not all of them get

eaten. This provides new areas for the tree’s mast to germinate. However,

this can also be to the detriment of some tree species. Many squirrels will

eat the cones of coniferous trees immediately or store them in places

where the seeds cannot successfully germinate.

Squirrels have an excellent sense of smell and spatial memory. This is

necessary to find their buried treasures. It has been reported that they can

smell their treasures to within a few centimeters!

Grey Squirrels can tell the difference between white oak acorns and red oak acorns. This is really cool. According to Richard

Thorinton, curator of mammals at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, squirrels will eat white oak acorns sooner than

red oak acorns because white oak acorns will germinate quickly, as soon as they hit the ground almost. An acorn is lower in nu-

tritional value after it has germinated so it is better utilized by the squirrel sooner. Conversely, a red oak acorn doesn’t germi-

nate until the spring, so the squirrel will “save” this forage until later in the year.

An Incredible Creature or a Regular Rodent?

An Eastern Grey Squirrel eating a peanut.

After long consideration, the CNY Regional Envirothon Committee has decided to limit

each team to a maximum of two teams per school instead of three. Since the Regional

Envirothon was changed from a two day to one day event, we are trying to limit each

station to a maximum of six teams. We may change this again in the future, but we’d

like to do our best to keep the number of schools we have participating. Please contact

your County representative for more information about this change. A complete list of

CNY Regional Envirothon rules, including rules regarding the oral presentation, can be

found in the Information Packet on page three and four.

IMPORTANT

EVENT INFORMATION

WHO: Erin Degan and Edward McFee

Envirothon Advisors

FROM: Bainbridge-Guilford High School

Chenango County

Question: Do you have an Envirothon or Outdoor Club that meets regularly?

If not, how do students at your school sign up for the Envirothon?

Answer: Our Envirothon team meets everyday during our activities period from December until the

competition in April. Not all of the team members are able to attend everyday because they are in-

volved in other activities, but we usually see them at least 3 out of 6 days. We usually have an informa-

tional meeting in early December to recruit new members and get members from previous years on our

list. We then add them to our 11th period activities class list.

Question: How do your students study for the Envirothon? Is this something that you set time aside

during the school day or do students participate after school?

Answer: Once we have our teams figured out, we encourage each team member to become the team

expert in one of the areas (forestry, soils, etc.) They use the study guide for their area to study and pre-

pare before we have the Oral Presentation Problem. We also do some lessons during 11th period on

the tools/topics that are a focus at the testing stations. Once we have the oral presentation problem,

most of the activity period is spent on that, so students must continue to study outside of school.

Question: Do you take any field trips or have anyone from outside the school district come in to help

teach your students skills related to the Envirothon?

Answer: We have gone on field trips to Rogers Environmental Education Center and we met with a lo-

cal forester one year when we were able to get it organized. We haven't been able to put those trips

together in the last two years due to our class schedules being really packed. We did those field trips on

Saturdays.

Question: From your perspective, does the Envirothon fit into your curriculum easily?

Answer: Absolutely. A huge part of the Living Environment curriculum is Ecology and Human Interac-

tions with their Ecosystem. It also fits nicely into our Environmental Issues course curriculum and cer-

tain aspects of the Earth Science Curriculum.

The CNY Regional Envirothon is organized by the Soil and Water Conservation Districts of Cayuga, Che-

nango, Madison and Onondaga Counties. If you have questions or concerns about the program, please

direct them to one of the following CNY Regional Envirothon Committee Members.

When everyday household items come to the end of

their usefulness, some of us scratch our heads and won-

der, should I really be throwing this in the garbage?

Here are a few pointers on how to dispose some of the

more common items we employ in our houses. For a

complete list, check with your County’s Waste Disposal

or Department of Public Works on instruction on how to

properly dispose of potentially hazardous materials.

Batteries: Did you know that it’s against New York

State Law to knowingly trash rechargeable batteries?

Most retailers that sell rechargeable batteries accept

used batteries for recycling. This also applies to the

batteries in your cellphone.

Mercury filled thermometers and thermostats: Think-

ing about replacing your old thermostat with a Nest?

Before you toss the old one into the garbage, check to

see if it is filled with a silver colored liquid. Many places

recycle mercury thermostats, including our major spon-

sor COVANTA ENERGY. Check out this website for retail-

ers in your area, http://www.thermostat-recycle.org/

zipsearch/

Electronics: Upgrading your television to a larger LED

from an older plasma model? What about old cell

phones, cd/dvd players, laptops, Ipods or an old XBOX?

Electronic wastes contain several types of heavy metals

that should not go into the regular trash. The best way to

dispose of your electronic waste is to either donate for

someone else to reuse or drop it off at a certified recy-

cling center.

Smoke Detectors: Check out your smoke detector. Is it

an Ionization chamber smoke detector (ICSD)? This type

of smoke detector contains a small amount of ionizing

radiation in order to detect smoke. If this is the case, you

can either mail the ICSD make to the manufacturer or you

take it to a household hazardous waste event . A photoe-

lectric smoke detector use a photo sensor and light beam

and do not contain radioactive materials. These smoke

detectors can be taken to any electronics recycling facili-

ty. Just remember to remove the batteries!

Light Bulbs: Fluorescent light bulbs and compact fluores-

cent light bulbs (CFLs) contain a miniscule amount of

mercury that can be released once the bulb is broken.

These bulbs can be dropped off at a household hazardous

waste event and at many large retailers (Lowe’s or Home

Depot).

Cayuga County Soil & Water Conservation District: 7413 County House Road

Auburn, NY 13021

Phone: (315) 252-4171

Contact: Valerie Horning

(vhorning@cayugaswcd.org)

Chenango County Soil & Water Conservation District: 99 N. Broad Street

Norwich, NY 13815

Phone: (607) 334-8534 Ext, 5

Contact: Jennifer Kelly (jl.kelly@frontier.com)

Lance Lockwood (lance.lockwood@frontiernet.net)

Madison County Soil & Water Conservation District:

6503 Wes Road

Hamilton, NY 13346

Phone: (315) 824-9849

Contact: Jessica Heim

(jessica-heim@verizon.net)

Onondaga County Soil & Water Conservation District:

6608 Onondaga Lake Parkway

Liverpool, NY 13088

Phone: (315) 457-0410

Contact: Maggie Connelly

(mconnelly@ocswcd.org)