By Kathy Schwartz
Growing up very close to Ouabache State Park, it was not a difficult decision for Senior Girl Scout Kaitlyn Stafford to choose Ouabache State Park as the location for her Gold Award project.
Kaitlyn is a nine-year veteran of Troop 00037, based in Bluffton. After earning both the Bronze and Silver Awards, she moved on to accomplish the Gold Award, which is comparable to Eagle Scout level in Boy Scouts.
The first step in the process of earning the Gold Award is creating a plan for the implementation and completion of the project.
“It was easy to determine the topic. I was always interested in the wildlife at the park,” Kaitlyn said. “I named the project, Winged Animals Conservation Project.“
The project included preparing a presentation for the local Girl Scout Council, petitioning the Resource Group for funding, publishing a pamphlet, presenting an educational program to the public, constructing habitat boxes for the chosen species, placing and maintaining the houses, and preparing a final summary of the project.
“I have almost three years to complete the project, but I want to be done with it by May 2024,” Kaitlyn said. “Once I started it, I was anxious to get it completed.”
The purpose of her project is to educate and demonstrate how important winged wildlife is to the environment. Kaitlyn chose bats, solitary pollinators and owls as her focus groups. She constructed six bat, two owl and four solitary pollinator houses. They will be placed in various locations around the park with the help of park staff. Historical structures and evidence of the species being present were factors that needed to be considered.
“I plan to keep an eye on them. It will be exciting to see if anything uses the structure.” Kaitlyn said with hope in her voice. “The boxes will need to be cleaned and any damage repaired in the coming years.”
Kaitlyn wrote a pamphlet that is available in the park office. She highlighted each species and told of the importance of conserving the animals. She hopes to spread empathy toward her subjects, especially the bats who are greatly misunderstood.
“All animals deserve a place to roost, raise their young, and thrive. Hopefully the bats will relocate away from the park structures and set up housekeeping in my boxes,” Kaitlyn said.
“The hardest part of the project was fighting my shyness and speaking in front of people. I was really nervous when I spoke to the Girl Scout Council and talked to Mr. Winne about a park-based project,” Kaitlyn said. “By the time I had to present a program to local girl scouts and park visitors I was pretty confident.”
Kaitlyn presented a program on Sept. 9 at the Camp View Shelter that included attendees building their own singular pollinator houses to take home.
“Everyone seemed to enjoy the program and I hope they will see a leaf cutter bee, a mason bee, a butterfly, or moth use it for shelter.
“The easiest part of the project was picking the location for my project. I love Ouabache. I have visited other parks in the state and noticed that Ouabache may not have as many resources as the bigger parks and I am so fortunate to have the opportunity to make Ouabache better. I love the people here and think Ouabache is special.”
“I am pretty well done with the Gold Award. I need to present a final paper to the Council,” Kaitlyn said with a sigh. “Of course, I will continue to maintain the boxes. I also want to advise the younger Girl Scouts.”
As for Kaitlyn’s future plans, “After graduation, I hope to earn a PhD in wildlife biology or zoology, or work for the DNR in the historical preservation division.”
If you visit Ouabache, you might run into Kaitlyn either on the trails checking her boxes or in the office doing her seasonal office clerk duties. Ouabache is so fortunate to have such an outstanding young woman being a part of our
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