Carson fifth-graders help keep Lake Tahoe blue

Classes from Fremont Elementary School have spent the week learning about the Lake Tahoe ecosystem as part of the Great Basin Outdoor School.

The school is a nonprofit devoted to hands-on discovery in the outdoors, and offers a series of four-day ecology camps for fifth- and sixth-grade classes.

Students have volunteered on Nevada Division of Forestry-supported projects to reduce fire danger in the Tahoe Basin, planted native plants, and done trail building and maintenance to reduce lake-clouding erosion.

This morning Fremont Elementary School students will work on a project at Camp Galilee on the shore of Lake Tahoe to discuss how simple choices make a difference.

At Camp Galilee students also weigh and graph their meal waste, learning the value of reducing solid waste and recycling, learn about local wildlife and their habitat needs, study the night sky and learn some Sierra geology.

Some children in need are participating this week thanks to scholarships from the High School Giving Circle of the Community Foundation.

The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection and the Nevada Division of Forestry help support current programs. The Community Foundation of Western Nevada manages an endowment fund for Great Basin Outdoor School, but another $5,000 is needed before any interest may be drawn for program support.

Other gifts can go directly to Great Basin Outdoor School at GBOS, 5125 Escuela Way, Reno, NV 89502.

For more information, visit greatbasin-os.org.