Worried that the future
of the nation's wild places may rest with an increasingly diverse population
that has little experience in the outdoors, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
is looking to an unusual savior: birding.
On Saturday, black,
Hispanic and female birders, nature photographers, teachers and professors will
gather at the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge in Bloomington to share
ideas and brainstorm about how to bring more minorities into birding.
Counter to its
little-old-lady-with-binoculars image, birding is an ideal way to lure young
people into the natural world, said U.S. Fish and Wildlife's Paula Ogden-Muse.
"This is about
saving the kids, but also about how to save the planet," said Ogden-Muse, visitor
services manager for the Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish
Refuge near La Crosse, Wis. "We need to get the people we don't see into
the refuge, and stop talking to the choir."
Ogden-Muse said her own
interest in birds was sparked by a mentor who kept bringing up his bird
sightings in conversation.
"He would say, 'Did
you see the hawks migrating?' I would say, 'No,' and then think, why am I not
paying attention to what's going on around me?" she said.
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