For Release: Thursday, April 21, 2005
Youth to Plant Trees for Earth Day at DEC Camp
New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) Acting Commissioner Denise M. Sheehan today announced that campers from DEC's Summer Environmental Camp Program will participate in a nationwide attempt to shatter the Guinness World Record for the most trees planted in 60 minutes on Earth Day. The record-breaking attempt will take place at noon on April 22, 2005 at DEC Camp DeBruce in Livingston Manor, Sullivan County.
"This is a fun and exciting way to mark this year's Earth Day and to get our youth involved and interested in conservation, which is the main goal of DEC's Summer Environmental Camp Program," Commissioner Sheehan said. "Trees are among our most valued natural resources and planting them is a great way to foster environmental stewardship and give youth hands-on experience in conservation. Good luck to all the participants."
Campers from the DEC Summer Environmental Camp Program and volunteers from Trinity-Homer Perkin's Youth Education Motivation Program (YEMP) are contributing to a nationwide effort to break the Guinness World Record for most trees planted in an hour. The group will plant 50 trees to beautify DEC's Camp DeBruce as their contribution to breaking the world record. Nationwide, groups will be working to break the current record of 4,100 trees planted in one hour.
For more than 50 years, DEC has provided a residential summer camp program in conservation education for young New Yorkers. Three camps, Colby, DeBruce and Rushford, serve children who are 12 to 14 years old. The summer of 1998 marked the opening of a new camp at Pack Forest in the southern Adirondacks. Here DEC offers week-long Ecology Workshops for teens who are 15 to 17 years old. At the camps, youth become immersed in conservation education, participating in fun activities and games that teach the wise use of natural resources.
Camp DeBruce is located in the heart of the Catskills Mountains near Liberty, New York. It has been in operation since 1948. Formerly a private estate and fish hatchery, DeBruce was acquired by the DEC in the 1940s and converted into a conservation education camp for boys. In 1975, Camp DeBruce began operation as a co-educational facility. It is the summer home to youth from around New York State.
The first Earth Day was in 1970, which was also the day that DEC was created in New York State. This year's Earth Day marks DEC's 35th anniversary.
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