Wildlife conservation camp: An education and recruitment pathway for high school students?

Abstract

ABSTRACT Environmental education programs have been evaluated to assess short‐term effects on participants; however, few studies have examined long‐term effects. We quantified how the Texas Chapter of The Wildlife Society's Wildlife Conservation Camp (WCC), Texas, USA, has affected high school students. A web‐based survey questionnaire measured attitudes and behaviors of participants toward wildlife conservation and natural resources. A subset of questions was taken from the 2011 National Survey of Fishing, Hunting, and Wildlife‐Associated Recreation to provide a comparison population (USDI, USFWS, USDC, and USCB 2011). The majority of respondents reported moderate to large increases in knowledge (89%) and interest (80%) of wildlife conservation and observation from the WCC and major influence on the course of their lives (85%). Most respondents (86%) who went into a conservation‐related field reported the WCC influenced their career path. The majority of WCC respondents took special interest in wildlife around the home (66%) and away from home (70%) compared with Texans (likely wildlife watchers) surveyed in the 2011 National Survey (75% and 23%, respectively). The WCC can influence knowledge and interest of wildlife and recruitment into conservation‐related fields. Improvements to the program include increased outreach to diverse audiences and scholarship opportunities. Our results may guide the evaluation of other outdoor camps as we strive to better understand how educational programs can create a diverse generation of ecologically literate citizens and conservation leaders. © 2016 The Wildlife Society.

Keywords

• environmental education
• evaluation
• recruitment
• stewardship
• Texas
• Wildlife Conservation Camp