0325-GCG-FoothillsConservancy_ESG25_12-18 (2) - Flipbook - Page 34
Foothills Conservancy of North Carolina
Wilderness
Watershed
Adventure
For many high schoolers in our region, the forests,
rivers, and ridgelines that surround their hometowns
are familiar scenery—but not necessarily familiar
territory. The annual Wilderness Watershed Adventure
(WWA) summer camp experience is changing that.
A collaboration between FCNC, Catawba Riverkeeper,
Lake James Environmental Association, and Montreat
College, WWA invites teens to step into the outdoor
spaces that form their regional identity through an
immersive, weeklong journey across the Lake James
watershed. It’s part environmental science expedition
and part outdoor adventure, with a big impact.
Young people are growing up in a time when
nature can feel distant, abstract, or inaccessible.
The Wilderness Watershed Adventure breaks that
This August, eleven high school students packed
barrier. It shows students that conservation is not
their bags, laced their boots, and met three college
for somewhere else—it’s for their home. And land
mentors and three outdoor leaders for a six-day
protection is not a job for other people, but theirs to
expedition. Together, they hiked the Mountains-to-
carry forward. When young people feel connected to
Sea Trail, canoed across Lake James, 昀椀shed in the
their area mountains, rivers, and waterfalls, they will
Linville River, learned about wilderness safety and
protect them. This is how conservation continues. And
Leave No Trace principles, cooked camp meals, and
we can’t wait to do it again next summer!
slept under the stars.
WWA is fun, but it’s also deep, hands-on
environmental learning. Campers got to work
alongside ecologists, land stewards, park rangers,
historians, and trail builders from more than a dozen
local organizations. They conducted stream health
assessments, habitat restoration projects, trail
maintenance, sustainable agriculture, and cultural
heritage research. They didn’t just hear about
conservation careers; they stood beside the people
who dedicate their lives to this work, asked questions,
and tried it themselves.
This program thrives because so many
partners believe in it. We are grateful
to: Sophie McCarthy (Lake James
Environmental Association and Catawba
Riverkeeper), Dottie Shuman (Montreat
College), Adam Scott (South Mountain
Children’s Home), Nora Coffey & staff (Lake
James State Park), Denise Bishop, Duke
Energy staff, Glaucia Mir (TOSS), and the
many volunteers, educators, and supporters
who make WWA possible.
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