Big dreams in a small pond
On a warm afternoon last August, Matt Negron stood with his toes at the edge of a mossy pond at Berkshire National Fish Hatchery in western Massachusetts. His eyes were fixed on the tip of his neon-green Zebco fishing rod. The rod twitched, twitched again, then bent down sharply.
“I’ve got one! I’ve got one!” yelled Negron, a 17-year-old from Manhattan with dark curly hair, half of which was dyed orange.
Sure enough, a 10-inch brook trout thrashed at the end of his line. Brian Layton, a fish biologist at the hatchery, helped him lift the fish out of the pond and into the grass behind them. Layton removed the hook from the trout’s gaping mouth and placed the fish in a large white bucket filled with water.
It was the first fish Negron had ever caught. It wouldn’t be the last.
During the next two hours, Negron and a dozen other teens from nearby Christodora’s Manice Education Center would pull trout after trout from the cool water into the dimming afternoon sunlight. The high school students, from various New York City boroughs, were participants in the Center’s summer leadership program, which helps them build friendships, self-esteem and critical life skills through outdoor experiences.
This was no ordinary fishing derby; these kids had brought big dreams to this small pond.
Into the wild
For many of these students, said Center Director Matt Scholl, the program offers a first opportunity to be immersed in nature — first mountain to climb, first river to paddle, first view of the constellations, and first fish.
The experience not only helps them better understand and appreciate the value of conservation and the outdoors, he said, but it also cultivates trust, teamwork, innovation and other valuable skills they can apply later in life and in their professional careers.
“It’s about taking kids away from a familiar environment and putting them into a new one where, as a group, they learn how to survive in the context of backcountry or wilderness trips,” Scholl said. “That changes their perspective about the world by broadening their horizons beyond the New York City subway map. It’s outside of what they know.”
The students had risen at sunrise to break camp near Shelburne Falls then paddled eight miles of the Connecticut River to the Hatfield boat ramp before boarding buses to get to the hatchery in the early afternoon.
Once a key part of the state’s salmon recovery program, the hatchery sits on 148 acres near the village of Hartsville, Mass. It is home to raccoons, red and gray foxes, coyotes, wild turkey, black bear, fishers, opossums, deer, and many other species of wildlife, and the source of a pristine aquifer that supplies 200 gallons per minute of high quality water to the hatchery.
This water source, which flows by gravity through various pools at the hatchery, makes it ideal for learning about raising fish and the natural history of the Berkshires. Tens of thousands of fish have been cultured here in more than a century of public operation.
The hatchery’s primary mission is to maintain lake trout broodstocks for restoration efforts in the Lower Great Lakes. It also raises thousands of native brook trout for stocking in local waterways to support recreational fishing, public youth fishing events, and educational programs.
The stop at the hatchery has been part of the Manice Center’s summer program for 12 years. It caps several days of learning about Connecticut River ecology, Scholl said, and helps students connect conservation and stewardship “in a very real way.”
In addition to providing fishing lessons, Layton, biological technician Joe Xamountry and volunteers from the Friends of the Berkshire Fish Hatchery teach the students about aquaculture, native plants and animals, and other aspects of hatchery management.
For Layton, who joined the Fish and Wildlife Service 10 years ago to merge his twin passions of nature and science, spending time with the students is a labor of love.
“I started fishing when I was four years old, but I wouldn’t have if my dad didn’t teach me,” he said. “This is a way for me to give that back.”
Turns out nature needs these kids as much as they need nature.
More than just a pretty place
Research has shown that spending time in, or living close to, nature is good for your physical health and emotional outlook. It reduces the risk of ailments like type II diabetes and cardiovascular disease and also can lessen stress, depression and anxiety.
Yet mounting evidence shows many Americans are pulled away from the natural world by an increasing use of computers, smartphones, televisions, and other technology. In addition, more and more people are moving away from rural areas, where interaction with nature is more likely.
A 2016 study conducted by public relations and marketing firm DJ Case and Associates with state and federal wildlife and park agencies concluded that Americans face a significant gap between their interests in nature and their efforts, abilities, and opportunities to pursue those interests.
The study lists several forces that disconnect adults and children from nature in daily life. These include living in places that discourage contact with the natural world; competing priorities for time, attention, and money; and declining dependence on nature for livelihoods and subsistence.
Youth, people of color, and urban and suburban residents may face additional barriers, such as a lack of a support system to explore the outdoors — adults to accompany children outside or friends to encourage them to make time for nature.
For Layton and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the calculus is simple: To ensure that wildlife and wild places continue to thrive in the future, the Service and conservation community at large must bridge the gap between nature and the next generation, which will be mostly urban and more racially and ethnically diverse.
“These kids will be the conservation supporters and leaders of tomorrow,” Layton said, gesturing to the Manice students. “But first we need to make nature and conservation relevant and accessible to them, and that doesn’t happen unless they have a chance to experience it first hand.”
Partners like Christodora’s Manice Education Center are all in when it comes to creating those opportunities. Since its opening in 1981, the Center has provided outdoor, leadership and environmental experiences to more than 25,000 students. The goal of the program, Scholl said, is to use nature as a means to develop students’ capacity for leadership, self-reliance and group cooperation.
“They are learning that nature is more than just a pretty place,” Scholl said. “It is a proving ground where you learn about yourself, learn how to lead. Outdoor expeditions are challenging — and these kids have to rely on each other. Being in nature gives you a confidence you may not know you have.”
Nature’s superpower
Xatziri Ponce, a 20-year-old from Queens, said the cool thing about nature is that it can uplift and inspire people from all walks of life — no matter where you come from or how you experience it. Kind of like a superpower.
Ponce spent four summers as a student in the Manice program before joining the Center’s staff two years ago. She said the experience motivated her to pursue a career in outdoor leadership, adding that many Manice students end up working in environmental and science fields.
“This experience helps you see what is out in the world, learn how to respect it, and work to protect it,” Ponce said. “It makes you believe you can do anything.”
By the time the sun had slipped behind the hemlocks lining the pond, the student anglers had filled their bucket with fish. Negron pulled in his third trout of the afternoon but was still reluctant to take it off the hook. He held the rod still, suspending the fish in the air, while Ponce removed the hook and placed the trout in the bucket.
“I didn’t think I would be good at this — I have to admit I was a little nervous at first,” Negron said. “Being in nature helps you learn how to believe in yourself, and eventually you find courage. I am taking all of these memories back home with me.”
Later that evening, Layton showed the students how to prepare and cook their catch for dinner. In a few hours they were asleep in their tents, dreaming of the next adventure. In this space, under a growing canopy of stars, those dreams seemed limitless.
