Submitted by Mark.Taylor on Mon, 2016-11-07 12:05 Conservation TU Teens Trout Magazine Vote Up Down +8 + westvirginiaplanting.JPG By Dustin Wichterman When I was in high school, I had no clue that folks had full-time vocations restoring our natural resources. Even into college, I wasn’t too aware of these sorts of activities. Some high school kids in West Virginia are getting an opportunity to learn more about environmental stewardship, and about possible careers in the field. TU's Potomac Headwaters Program has been able to assist in engaging kids in environmental stewardship activities, thanks to the Mountain Institute at Spruce Knob's Appalachian Stream and Watershed Monitors, and the West Virginia Save Our Streams Program. On November 2 we all teamed up for a busy field day, rotating local students through stations that offered instruction on how to monitor water chemistry, benthic macroinvertebrates and habitat. The students also got some truly hands-on learning, installing some riparian plantings along a small spring-fed brook trout stream in Pendleton County. The students also learned about potential careers doing this kind of work, and all seemed to be really engaged in the day’s activities. Dustin Wichterman oversees Trout Unlimited’s Potomac Headwaters Program. He is based in Circleville, W.Va.