Nicodemus Wilderness Project -- Global Registry of Apprentice Ecologists

Alex, Yorktown, Virginia

My Background

I have worked on environmental projects all my life. At my school, Walsingham Academy, in Williamsburg, Virginia I worked on recycling projects and received the Environmental Science Award. I have also volunteered and worked in local parks for four years. The first two years I worked as a volunteer and the third year I was offered paid employment. As a junior park ranger, I take families on ecology tours to show them our estuaries and teach them about conservation. I collect information on wild life in the park and the condition of plant life. At the Watermanâ€™s Museum in Yorktown, Virginia, I am also a volunteer leading people on canoe trips to see nature first hand and learn about the importance of the Chesapeake Bay.

My Project
Of all the school and community projects in which I have participated, my Eagle Scout project has had the most significant impact on my community. As the son of a disabled veteran dad and a mom who served in the Navy for 31 years, I decided to devote my project to a cause that would directly benefit military families in my community.

I designed a project involving green space that would benefit local military families because many families live in apartments, townhomes or temporary housing where green space is very limited. As a result, backyard cookouts and ball games are not something they can do at home. As a military dependent, I developed personal appreciation for the value of green space in parks through scouting activities that I participated in for 9 years.

The project involved refurbishing a park picnic area that had decayed to the point where people were no longer using it. I designed, obtained materials and built six picnic tables with attached benches and painted them to make the picnic area once again safe, usable and attractive. Before I could get started, I needed to have my design and plan evaluated. I spent about 40 hours on the planning. My parents and a family friend and my scout master looked at my plan to make sure it was well-planned and designed and that I had accurately estimated needed materials. To get the project completed, I enlisted the support of my track team at school to come help with the new picnic tables. I estimate that I and my running friends spent over 100 hours constructing and painting tables.

The project was a success. The tables are functional, attractive and study enough to serve the community for many years. The designated picnic area will attract people to picnic in a safe area set aside for them and avoid needless human encroachment into wooded areas that disturbs wildlife and river banks where trash and other pollutants could end up in the water.

During my two year internship as a junior ranger at York River State Park, I am seeing the benefits of parks to families without personal green space as they use the green space of the public park to celebrate birthdays and play games. I have seen my project as a way to provide a needed benefit to local families, save tax dollars for local government and protect wildlife habitats.