Breaking new ground
Dean Downer, Massena, Iowa

At CAM Middle School, Downer created the "Man and his Environment" curriculum, the focus of which is an 80-acre tract of land that the teacher was instrumental in getting donated as an outdoor classroom. The property, which has since become designated as a wildlife area, includes a 4-acre wetland where students have installed nesting boxes for ducks and geese, and fishing is open to the public. "We're trying to teach our kids to be better stewards of the land," Downer says.

saving stranded trout
Bob Capron, Cody, Wyo.

With A lifelong resident of Wyoming, Capron has been aware of "entrainment"—fish becoming trapped in irrigation canals—since he was a boy. As conservation chair of Trout Unlimited's East Yellowstone chapter, he urged the group to launch a rescue effort that involves electroshocking and safely replacing the trapped fish in the river. Despite rescuing up to 4,000 trout each year, the group still considers the effort a "Band-Aid" solution. A more permanent fix, believes Caprone, are modern, self-cleaning screens, which the chapter has begun to install with the help of the Wyoming Game & Fish Department. The ultimate goal is to keep the fish in the river. "I'd like to leave something here in Wyoming that's similar to what I saw when I was a kid," he says.

taking kids fishing
John Kidd, Jr., Chicago, Ill.

Kidd and some friends started Fishin' Buddies!, Inc. in 1991 to target inner-city youth. "It's a tremendous need," he says. "Kids need to know about conservation." Each year, more than 1,000 Chicago students, ages 6 to 18, participate in the group's programs, which focus on habitat restoration and land management. Kidd, who is president of the nonprofit, organizes tree-plantings, removal of invasive species, and fishing derbies held at various ponds in the area.