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Beaufort County launches year-old passive-parks education effort, expands citizen-science programs
Summary
Beaufort County’s Passive Parks program marked a year of programming with free public events, new animal ambassadors at Crystal Lake Park and regular citizen-science projects, staff told the Community Services and Land Use Committee.
Beaufort County this week highlighted growing environmental-education programming in its Passive Parks system, including regular public events, citizen-science initiatives and the formation of a nature center at Crystal Lake Park.
The committee learned that the county’s passive-parks education effort began in August of last year and that Destiny Raines, the county naturalist, has led development of the program’s curriculum and outreach. "In August of last year, Miss Raines ... was hired as the county's naturalist," staff said, adding the program produced videos on the county YouTube channel and provided multiple free public programs.
The update gave specifics: staff said the naturalist and her team provided outreach and 47 public programs between March and August, produced three media videos and launched a quarterly online series. Raines described a catalog of hands-on offerings — "Trail Talks," bird walks (with eBird submissions), a "Gator Gander" program to teach safe interaction with alligators, cast-net clinics and a new "Critters of Crystal Lake" program — and encouraged residents to participate in recurring citizen-science counts and a September school tour program.
Staff also described animal ambassador habitats at Crystal Lake Park — tree frogs, sliders, corn snakes and a recently acquired box turtle — and said an internship opportunity will be offered in winter to assess demand for additional naturalist support.
Committee members pressed on safety for the Gator Gander events; Raines said education is the primary goal: "the biggest thing is kind of respecting their space and how we can best respect them while also viewing them," and she noted event talks and signage discourage feeding.
The county invited residents to an animal-ambassadors event and a pollinator census, and said additional episodes of its "Take It Outside" series will be available on the Beaufort County YouTube channel.
The committee did not take formal action on the presentation; staff said they will publicize the schedule and outreach materials when available.
