Sixteen of the 17 members of the NYLC gathered in southern Illinois near Carbondale the weekend of July 25-27 to hold their summer meeting. The group camped in tents and participated in outdoor education activities led by Curt Carter, director of the Land for Learning Institute. Although it was hot and humid, the group kept cool swimming, canoeing and kayaking. They also helped cook some fantastic campfire meals, made presentations on their individual projects, selected candidates to be elected as officers, learned about historic primitive tools, participated in a session on how to conduct meetings using parliamentary procedure, got better acquainted with raccoon circles and other activities and enjoyed fishing and visiting. Photos of their activities are included.

National Youth Leadership Council at the Summer Meeting in Southern Illinois

more…

By Evan Griggs

The author fishing Lake Harriet in the Twin Cities, Minnesota. Griggs founded the Southwest High School Fly Fishing Club to get his fellow students involved in the outdoors and conservation.

Whether you know it or not, the future of fishing, hunting and the conservation of our natural world isn’t in the hands of any politician, scientist or activist. It’s in ours. Kids hold all the cards for the future!

Many people think it’s a waste of time to try and get young adults and kids involved with the outdoors. Many believe that most of us don’t like to venture into the wilderness and would rather spend time in the video game store or the gas station. But, that’s a misconception.

Sure, we love our video games and cell phones and the candy and pop we can get from the gas station, but some of us love the outdoors too. There’s a huge majority of kids that want to go hunting and fishing, but because their parents never really do either of those activities, they can’t. Plus, there are probably more kids at your schools and in your neighborhoods that fish and hunt than you even more…