MISSOURI—What do 12 high school students plus two hours of hard work equal? More than 1.75 tons of trash removed from Mark Twain National Forest.

St. Louis-area high school students enrolled in Shaw Nature Reserve’s annual program, Shaw Institute for Field Training, spent a cold spring weekend at the Mark Twain National Forest for their inaugural spring capstone event—a primitive overnight camping trip to Berryman Campground on the forest. For some students, it was their first-time primitive camping in a national forest. 

 

Students spent the school year learning about ecological research methods and natural resource restoration practices. The spring capstone event allowed students to connect their lessons and experiences to real-life research and management of public lands.

Northern Research Station scientists and Mark Twain National Forest managers took students on a tour to see active forest management (timber harvesting and prescribed burning) and explored the challenges that arise when other land uses occur in the same spaces such as hiking, mountain biking or horse riding.

The Shirley School Road Restoration Project was selected as the capstone project. Students saw where people have dumped household trash on national forest lands along Forest Road 2375. Through thoughtful questions and discussion with Forest Service managers, they concluded that people must dump trash because it’s traditional practice, they just don’t know it’s wrong or because it’s convenience. As they set to work cleaning up the dump sites, they noted how many of the items could have been recycled, repurposed or thrifted.

Students shared ideas about how they, as young conservationists, can help with the trash dumping problem, including how they can educate others about proper trash disposal and alternatives like recycling and reuse. They also want to continue supporting other cleanup efforts like this one. Not one of the SIFT students expected to make such a significant contribution to their national forest.

Eastern Region’s Urban Connections program provided funding for the capstone event. Other partners included Ozark Rivers Solid Waste Management District, Missouri Botanical Garden, Shaw Nature Reserve, and Washington University’s Tyson Research Center.