My sister is planning to develop a portion of the land owned by my husband and me as a nature learning camp. An unused corner of our land will be developed as a rustic learning center where people can find out about plants and critters and also practical skills including basic camping skills, primitive skills, and about sustainable practices, solar power, bird-watching, etc. This idea is in a very early planning stage. The base camp part of the land is about 3 acres, but the activities will occur on other parts of our 20 acres with trails to various points. I'm personally pretty darn excited about this project, as it is directly related to our use of the land for Wildlife Management and to our goals for rehabilitation of the land. If you were to participate in such a camp, what kinds of things would you want to learn about? What would you hope to see or do?

There may be various ways for you to get some tax relief on the area of your land that is set aside for these activities.

I've done some investigating on the park idea and found that some organizations want control overs certain things, while others such as the WWF help manage wildlife without wanting to register anything against title. I'm wary of any entity that wants covenants or any other control of the land.

Since we already have Wildlife Management tax status, I don't think there's any other available tax benefit, but thank you for the suggestion.

That sounds great Tyler. As good as Wildlife Management is for the animals/habitat, by also utilizing it as a means to make others aware of its importance, you will be compounding its benefits.

"Human use" is one of the criteria for Wildlife Management tax status in Texas, that is the wildlife can't be managed just for their own sake, but some benefit must accrue to humans, either food, medicine or recreation. So folks learning about and enjoying the wildlife will fit in well with our management plan, and adhere to both the spirit and letter of the law.

Great project! Composting, wild edibles, recycling, food forests, rainwater collection.

Landscape Planning, Symbiotic Planting, Green fertilizer cultivation

Thanks!

Nice project, sounds like a lot of outdoor fun.

I'd want to learn some things that could be applied to a person's backyard.
If the idea is to promote more sustainable living, then have a list of
things to teach that people can actually do in their own yard or even house.

Cheers

Thank you!

I would love to see example of various climates that could be created in the same piece of property.

Being able to see USDA planting zone recommendations stretched and how it can be done.

Also having some education on land shaping on small scale. Being able to see this at various stages (conceptual, implementation, maintenance, maturity)

Seed gathering would also be a nice thing to learn/do.

Creating critter habitat/homes nest cites ect.

Thank you for those great suggestions!

Sounds like a great project! You could get organizations like the Boy Scouts, Boys and Girls Clubs, 4H Club, easily interested in something like that. The Boy Scouts especially might could work with you on projects. It would be a great way to introduce them to permaculture concepts and make them aware of ways to address solutions to our long-term drought conditions in Texas.

Thank you for the suggestion.

We had the first workday on the camp today, as well as shooting video for a crowd funding campaign. A fun time was had by all.

Wooot! Tell us more, or show us some video!

Thank you! I'll try to get some photos or video up in a few days if possible.

Here's the work-in-progress mission/vision statement for the camp:

"Star Fire Adventure Camp for Grownups is an environmentally sustainable camp hosting educational and recreational experiences for adults to inspire greater appreciation of nature and enthusiasm about promoting sustainable living and to foster imagination and the development of creative skills."

Wow, sounds like a great endeavor! I hope it works out, and that many people are reached! I looked into the Wildlife Management option a few years ago, but never did anything with it, not sure why. I can't wait to see some of the videos, hope I don't miss the post!

Why did you/yall decide to make it only for adults??

Thank you. I'm not sure why my sister decided to make it just for adults, but I'm just as glad because there are fewer issues of responsibility and safety when it is just adults. Also there are lots of camps for kids, such as the Girl Scout camp down the road, but not as many for adults who might want to learn about nature in a camp setting.

Here's the blurb from the website-in-progress:

"Do you remember the days of Summer Camps when you were young?

Or maybe you only dreamed of going.

​You went to have fun and learn cool things, like arts and crafts, horseback riding, solar cooking, and archery. You went on long hikes and learned about plants and wildlife. There was swimming and canoeing. At night there were thousands of stars, roasted marshmallows, camp songs and staying up late. Then………………. You grew up."

This is for people who loved that experience as children or never got to have it and wished they could.

Here are some stills from the video:

Hiking; my sister in front, then me, then our 82 year old dad.



Archery



Paleolithic camp



Harvesting wild food