MANISTIQUE — The Schoolcraft Conservation District is offering scholarships to middle and high school students to attend natural resource summer camps this year. Two upcoming camps are included in this offering. If a student is applying to one of these camps, they should contact the Conservation District to inquire about scholarships, which will be paid directly to the camp on the student’s behalf. Students are responsible for their applications to camp.

The first camp is the Summer Youth Program at Michigan Tech in Houghton. Camps are offered at various weeks during the summer; some are for students currently in grades 6-8 and others for grades 9-11. Courses that the Conservation District will provide scholarship assistance for are: Wild Writers, Geohazards and Resource Engineering, Climate and Sustainability, Intro to Renewable Energy, Mapping Sustainable Food Systems, and Geospatial Engineering. Geospatial Engineering is part of the NEXT Scholars program and has a quickly approaching deadline of April 10. Other classes have more flexible deadlines, but all have limited space. Go to mtu.edu/syp to apply to the Michigan Tech camps. See their website for Covid protocol.

The second camp is the Audubon Society’s Young Birders camp at Alma College which is for ages 13-18 and is scheduled for June 26-July 1. This camp includes traveling to various places in Michigan to learn about the diverse bird communities of the Great Lakes region. Camp application deadline is May 1 or until filled. To apply, go to michiganaudubon.org, click on “Learn” and then click on “Young Birders.” This camp requires full vaccination and masking.

To request a camp scholarship, call the Conservation District at 906-286-2890. You may also contact them by email at schoolcraftcd@macd.org or stop by the District office which is located in the same building as MSU Extension, next to the Manistique Middle and High School and Manistique Library.